Obituaries

Mary grew up in Upper Montclair, New Jersey with her parents and brother. Her father was the minister at The Presbyterian Church of Upper Montclair and they lived in the parsonage on the church property. Mary graduated from Westminster College in Pennsylvania where she received a bachelor’s degree in education and was a member of the Theta Sigma Omicron sorority. She began teaching in an elementary school in New Jersey the fall of 1953 and taught there until 1956. She married Frank Legge on June 25, 1955.  Together, they had four children. The family moved to Richardson, Texas in 1971. Though their relationship was not permanent, Mary and Frank remained friends. 

Mary began teaching again in the fall of 1976 at Callier School for the Deaf and Blind through UTD, where she worked with physically and intellectually disabled children. She then taught elementary school in Princeton Texas, followed by Roundtree Elementary and Reed Elementary in Allen Independent School District. During her career in Allen, she taught special education and third grade. She obtained a Master of Science in Human Development and Early Childhood Disorders at the University of Texas at Dallas. She was also a member of several organizations including American Business Women’s Association and Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa. Using her education and skills, she had significant impact on many students and families. She loved her students and their families and remained in contact with many of them throughout her life.

She retired from teaching in the spring of 1996. After retirement, she turned her energy to her grandchildren and to charity work. She loved having her grandchildren with her. Every New Year’s Eve, all the grandchildren would have a sleep over at Grandma’s house while the parents celebrated the New Year. She also had a passion for charity. Her most notable volunteer activities were with Family Outreach in Richardson. She served many families that needed help. She was able to utilize her skills as a teacher in many of these cases. 

She was very involved with her church family at Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church. She was appointed as a deacon in 2002. She expressed her love for her relationships in this congregation frequently. Her friends at Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church continued to encourage and visit her up to her passing.

Mary is preceded in death by her mother and father Joseph C. Dickson and Bertha Dickson and brother Joseph C. Dickson II. She is survived by her former spouse Frank Legge (Gaynor) of Dallas, daughter Ellen Garfield of Fort Worth, daughter Karen Howarton (Doak) of Greenville, son Eric Legge of Grapevine, and daughter Nancy Brown (Jeff) of Murphy; and grandchildren Tiffany McGlothlin (Todd), Jennifer Garfield (Kyle), Amber Burroughs (Chris), Jessica Tepp (Sean), Melissa Stivers (Eddie), Katie Prutsman (Tristan), Nicole Brown, Cody Brown (Gabbie), Easton Legge, Joshua Legge, and Hannah Howarton; and great grandchildren Gracie Sutphin, Faith Sutphin, Penny Burroughs, Jackson Stivers, Audrey Stivers, Salem Howarton, and Elijah Brown; and nieces and nephew Jean Anne Rose, Patty Rosinski, Mary Jane Trainor, Craig Dickson, and Jenny Fletcher. All whom she loved dearly.

Her ashes were interred on Good Friday, April 18, 2025 at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Montclair New Jersey where she was laid to rest with her mother, father and brother.

A celebration of life will be held at Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church in Richardson, Texas on Friday, April 25, 2025 at 11am. Click here to view the livestream of the service.

Pauline (Polly) Malone Kerr
July 8, 1921—March 28, 2025

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Polly was born and raised in Washington Township, along the Ohio River.  She was a member of the “Great Generation” a child of the Great Depression and a young woman through WWII.  This was very evident from the strength, resilience and independence of her character.

After graduating as valedictorian from Matamoros High School, she left small town life behind to attend the prestigious Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City.  She worked in New York throughout the war.

She was an intrepid traveler, touring Mexico with her sister, Kit, in a Woodie station wagon and moving to Honolulu in the immediate post-war years.  After accepting a position with Aramco Oil in Saudi Arabia, she met and married a young petroleum engineer, Jim Kerr.  They married in Cairo in 1950.  As his wife she made homes for Jim and their children in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Long Island, New York, Abquiq, Saudi Arabia and Trinidad.  In 1962 Jim joined Mobil Oil and the family settled in Louisiana, first in Lafayette and then in New Orleans.  In 1980, Jim accepted another overseas post and they spent 2 years in Cameroon. 

Polly was a devoted mother and will be deeply missed by her four children; Diana Osborn (Roger), Robin Burnette (Mike), Amy Nezat (David), James Kerr (Jennifer); her grandchildren, Jessica Becker (Brent),  Will Osborn (Andrea),  James Nezat (Teresa), Ian Burnette (Sarah), Emerson Kerr, Lauren Kerr, Marshall Kerr; and her great grandchildren, Simon, Walter and Alice Becker, Blaise Burnette and Lincoln Osborn.

Polly was a lifelong Presbyterian and was a member of Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church for the past 41 years.  A celebration of her life will be held there on April 12 at 4 pm. The service will be livestreamed here: https://youtube.com/live/pFiPcHZ3DFU?feature=share

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the North Texas Food Bank.

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Anna Marie Martin passed away at her home of 46 years on January 27, 2025 at the age of 78 in Carrollton, Texas.  Anna was healthy and active to her last day, always busy.  She was beloved by her family and friends. 

Anna was born on August 6, 1946 to Emily (Markus) and John Faber in Chicago, Illinois.  She was the baby of the family.   Her siblings and cousins called her “Ann,” “Annie,” or “Sweet Annie.”   Her strength and strong will was evident from an early age and was something she exhibited throughout her life.  Anna and her family lived in the city when she was young.  During her early teen years, her parents separated.  Anna, her mother, and sister, Marge, established themselves closer to the suburbs.  Anna graduated from Mount Prospect High School in June of 1964.  Almost immediately upon graduation, Anna boldly struck out on her own, finding a job in secretarial work.

Anna was always optimistic and determined.  Her brother John remembers when she wanted to buy her first car.  John drove out to lend his knowledge, visiting a local Ford dealership.  There Anna test-drove a Mustang, not having driven before and without a license.  John remembers this as an “awakening” experience and where her siblings gave her the nickname “Parnelli Jones” (a race car driver).  When Anna wanted something, she knew what she wanted and went after it without hesitation.  She would later instill this immense drive in her daughters.    

In 1964, while visiting a friend, Anna met her husband, Craig Martin.  They later started dating and fell in love.  Anna and Craig married in Mount Prospect, Illinois, on May 17, 1969.  Anna always remembered it was a rainy day, but she took it as a sign of good luck.

Anna worked as a secretary and executive assistant in several industries including law, technology, and manufacturing.  One of the most interesting jobs was for Sperry UNIVAC working with the first commercial computers in the United States, where part of her role was to insert computer program punch cards to run business operations.

In the early 1970’s, Craig and Anna bought their first house in Crystal Lake, Illinois, where they welcomed their daughters, Lisa Marie born 1973, and Andrea Maree born 1976.  Anna devoted herself to being a full-time mom and wife.   

In 1978, Craig and Anna moved to Texas to pursue a new job opportunity for Craig.  Anna continued to work in secretarial and executive assistant roles for over 30 years.  Anna was known for getting things done.  She frequently said, “if you want to get something done, put it on the busiest desk,” and Anna’s desk was always the busiest and often where you would find the answer to most questions.  Anna retired from her corporate job in 2007.

When Lisa and Andrea got married, 2019 and 2001, respectively, Anna was particularly proud to watch her daughters marry extraordinary men.  She thoroughly enjoyed building deep relationships with her sons-in-law, Robert and Kenneth. 

In 2007, Anna and Craig were overjoyed when their granddaughter, Sophia Emily, was born.  You only had to spend a few minutes with Anna to know that Sophia was one of the greatest joys of her life.  Anna retired to stay home and take care of Sophia when she was a baby and toddler.  Anna’s influence on Sophia is evident as she has developed into a strong and intelligent young lady, just like her grandmother.      

Several years later, through Lisa’s marriage to Robert, Anna was blessed with three great-grandchildren.  “Little” Robert, as he is known in the family, absolutely adored Grandma Anna and he frequently expressed that she was one of his favorite people. 

Anna will be remembered as a loving wife, a devoted mother and grandmother, a caring sister and friend.  Her nieces and nephews hold a very special place in their heart for their “Auntie Ann.”  For her older nieces, she was a best friend to talk, go bar hopping, or travel with.  And for the younger nephews, someone who was always there for them.  Anna and Craig were second parents to most of their nieces and nephews.  

Anna poured her heart into taking care of Craig during his fight with cancer, being a solid rock of support for the entire family.  After Craig passed away in 2021, Anna made it a point to stay in contact with her family, talking to them weekly, if not daily.  She will be deeply and forever missed.

Anna was preceded in death by her husband, Craig Martin, and parents, Emily Markus and John Faber, and brother-in-law James “Jim” Anderson. She is survived by her great-aunt Bertha “Bert” Walker, her brother John Faber (Barbara), sister Cathy Haber (George), sister Margret “Marge” Anderson, daughter Lisa Martin-Alvarez (Robert), daughter Andrea Pfannstiel (Kenneth), grandchildren Sophia Pfannstiel, Brandon Alvarez (Rachel), Lindsey Perry, great-grandchildren Robert, Alice and Jackson Alvarez, as well as many beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews. 

A celebration of Anna’s life will be held at Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church in Richardson, Texas on Friday, March 14, 2025 at 3:30pm. 

Sue Hufft went on to her eternal rewards on January 10, 2025, just before her 90^th birthday. She was born to Edward and Mary Anderson on January 20, 1935, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While attending Oklahoma State University where she earned her B.A. in Arts and Sciences, she met Allen Hufft, and they married on September 27, 1958. Allen’s career took them to Dallas where their daughter Cindy was born, and then to Jackson, Mississippi, where their son Craig was born. No matter where Allen’s work took them, Dallas was always “home.” 

Sue’s children remember her always devoted to family and church. A longtime member of Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church, she contributed her beautiful alto voice to the church choir, and she and Allen worked extensively to reorganize the choir’s music, even reprinting it in large type. As a member of the choir, Sue was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall.

Among Sue’s greatest joys was teaching preschoolers at Ridgeview Presbyterian Church. She was also a lifelong member of the P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) Sisterhood.

When Allen retired, they also indulged in their love of world travel, encountering several remarkable situations: Tiananmen Square during the first days of those fateful demonstrations, and Berlin when the wall fell. They drove across the entire African continent, and in Red Square they traded a pair of blue jeans for a souvenir hammer-and-sickle watch—now Craig’s.

When Sue was ordained an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, she wrote this eloquent statement of her faith:

I believe that sin is the self-destructive breaking of relationship of God and fellow man. We are human beings created in the image of God—sin distorts, twists, corrupts and contradicts this truth. We bring loneliness and alienation when we separate ourselves from God and our fellow man.

I believe that God has proved himself trustworthy by his powerful and living action in the world and in our lives to overcome and free us from sin by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Jesus was the Word of God, who not only spoke of the saving love of God but demonstrated it by living as the man with and for other men. In saving us, God gives us a worth we do not have otherwise.

I believe that God does not stop with forgiving our sins, loving and accepting us. He promises the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit to work in us, accompanying us every step of the way, enabling us to do what we could never do alone, helping us to achieve results we could never hope for if we were left to ourselves.

Sue is survived by her husband and children and was preceded in death by her brother Jon Anderson and her sister Nancy Anderson.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts to the Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church Music Ministry.