Mary Anna was born on August 27, 1922 in El Dorado, KS to John C. and Ruby Deckelman. She married Eli Franklin McMahan, Jr. on June 14, 1941. Together, they owned and operated Pangburn Safe & Lock in Lubbock for over 35 years. Mary Anna was also a Camp Fire Girl Leader and a Cub Scout Leader for many years. She was also a long time member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church.
Mary Anna is survived by her daughter, Leigh Ann Stanford; sons, Gary Franklin McMahan and Ronald Lewis McMahan; 11 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; and a great-great grandson.
She was preceded in death by her husband and two brothers, John C. Deckelman, Jr. and James Melvin Deckelman.
Following eulogy was written and read at funeral by Diane Keisling Perkins
Maryanna was a woman of faith. Her faith in action blessed so many people in her life. Everyone here today who knew Maryanna was blessed by her faithfulness in some way. Maryanna was always helping people and was always bringing happiness to any gathering. She lit up the room with her smile and her loud high voice. There was never a mistake about when Maryanna was at the party. Her zeal for life was contagious.
I met Maryanna when I was 2 years old after we moved to Lubbock from Midland and joined Christ the King parish. I can never remember a time when Maryanna was not a large part of my life. I hold many treasured memories of swimming in her pool as a young child and always attending her annual tradition of the New Years Eve party. Each year had a core group in attendance and also some distant friend or relative in town for the holidays would join us. A great reunion nonetheless. I remember running up and down the halls playing hide and seek and tormenting the bigger kids when they got a pool table as they tried to play pool without us underfoot. I remember Frank and Maryanna would heat the pool for the party and it would have steam for about 2 feet high and we would swim and play in the water until nearly midnight. I remember playing the big jukebox with records of old German polkas and learning to dance the Lilly Marlena polka with Maryanna. I would dance on my daddy's feet to the slow songs and he would twirl me around and around. I felt like a princess when he danced with me. New year's eve was always fun because there was so much energy in the house and also fireworks outside. Daddy would buy me sparklers and I would go out with the other kids and hold the sparklers and make designs in the air until they finally went out. New years eve was full of many happy times and memories of the McMahan's hospitality and love for us all.
Maryanna was active with Frank in the Boy Scouts. I remember going with them on the 50 mile hike when I was about 5 or 6 years old and getting to sleep in a pop up camper. What an exciting outing. I remember how active Maryanna and Frank were in the school at Christ the King and how they helped out at the pancake suppers, shrimp peel fundraisers, and other events at the church. Maryanna loved her kids and was so proud of all 3 of them.
Leigh Ann- she was proud of you and how you could garden and make salsa and other things that you helped her with canning each year. She loved to cook with you and she is proud of your kids and grandkids and always bragged to me about one of them each time we talked or shared what was happening in their lives. She is happy that you and David found each other and you both blessed her in many ways that you will never know. David- she loved you like a son.
Gary- she was extremely proud of your service in the military and was glad that you retired with full retirement. I remember when you first retired she was so proud of you because you were making wood and glass cases for folded American flags and she really liked that. She must have told me about it 10 times. She is also very proud and happy for you and your new family.
Ronald- Maryanna was proud of your business skills and success in your career. She was also proud of your kids- both sets of boys. She loved them all and was proud of them all.
Mary Teresa- she was just telling me a few weeks ago when I was here that you were always going to be her daughter and she loved you so much and was so proud of you in your nursing career. She knew how much you always loved her and she loved you greatly.
I know that we all have stories we could tell for hours about Maryanna. We can all agree that she was a funny lady and made people laugh. She really didn't care what people thought about her and she always erred on the side of love. Maryanna used her gifts and talents to nurture people with food. She had 2 words that I would always hear if I was around her- "Gotta Eat". When my mom got a reoccurrence of cancer I can remember Maryanna making dinner every night and bringing it to them at their house at about 5:00 so she could get home before dark. She did not like to drive in the dark. I can honestly say that I believe that if it were not for her in their life at that time my parents would have starved. When Frank died in 1986 Maryanna traveled with my parents for 10 years before my mom died in 1996. They went on many trips to Vegas, Ruidoso, Santé Fe, New Orleans, San Antonio, Missouri, Tennessee, Arizona, Florida, California, and Colorado to name a few. They were like the 3 musketeers and always had a funny story to tell about their adventures. Sometimes people would mistake her for daddy's wife because they argued like spouses and were both hard headed as they could be. My mom would just sit back and occasionally referee when they would run a subject in the ground. Especially politics. Daddy would love to discuss the good and bad of Truman vs. Eisenhower with Maryanna and Frank just to get them riled up. he knew which buttons to push for sure.
When I was battling my first round of cancer Maryanna prayed for me- some people say that they will pray and they never do. Maryanna put her faith in action and had a healing mass said on my behalf. One day I was very low and the mail came with a commemorative card from Maryanna's parish with the details of the mass that was said in my honor. I was so touched by her faithfulness and love.
One time a few years ago Maryanna was visiting friends in Ft. Worth and asked me to drive her to OKC to visit her cousin Melvin and his wife Mary. I offered to buy her a plane ticket but she just wanted to spend a few hours visiting Barry and me so we agreed. We picked her up and took her to lunch and got on the road for a nice 3 hour drive. When we left OKC there was an accident and road construction that closed the road and it took us 8 or 9 hours to get home. We laughed about the adventure and agreed it was worth it just for a few laughs with Maryanna on the way.
One funny story about Maryanna I remember happened one Easter in the late 80's. The 3 of them came to visit me and we all went up to the farmhouse at Van Alstyne for the day. She was determined to get the wild cats out of the farm house and to get the bushes trimmed out front that day before we went back to my house in Plano. You could not talk her out of it. Hence the nickname- hard headed Hanna. We worked in the yard. She had a duster powder puff with sulfur on it to keep the chiggers off our pants and she would dab it on our legs and feet. She directed the activities while she sipped on a scotch. I kept telling her that there was poison ivy in the bushes and she argued that there was not and told me to keep cutting. That night we got home and I was covered with poison ivy and eaten up with chiggers. She said not to worry about it as it was just part of being in the country. We decided to get her back. She went to bed early after a few too many scotches and nestled in the king size bed in my room. She ordered us to keep that varmint cat out of my room. We had a cat named Mia and I let the cat sleep in my room because I had a kitty door to the outside from my room. I later went to bed in my room to find Maryanna sawing logs. That night I woke up because Maryanna was snoring loudly. She did not have in her teeth and she was laying on her back with her mouth wide open-What a sight! The cat was looking down in her mouth and then looking at me trying to figure out what the noise was all about. Mia meowed and then laid down and slept on her shoulder and the top of head most of the night. I should have had a camera as she never wanted to believe she had just snuggled all night that varmint cat! Telling that story over and over has brought a lot a laughter for us all.
Maryanna always offered food to anyone who came to the door. When I would come by for a visit when I was I Lubbock she would load me down with fresh vegetables from the garden and a frozen rum cake for Barry. Every year she made a rum cake for my birthday, Barry's birthday and for both of us at Christmas. A couple of months ago Maryanna wanted to send me 2 rum cakes but was complaining about the postage being so high so I sent her some Fed Ex prepaid slips so she could send me rum cakes any time she wanted. She heard I was having a party so she sent one overnight with Sat. delivery and I got it in time to serve that night. She then sent 2 more and I called her to ask why she was loading me up with rum cakes? She said that she was getting ready to go and wanted me to have them. I had a long talk with her about that and she just said that she was tired and was ready. She began to have more aches and pains and rashes from her psoriasis in different manifestations and she was tired of living in that scooter. She was lonely at the house but she did not want to leave it. She asked me to make sure that her kids did not put her in a home when she got bad off. She said she just wanted to go to heaven from her house in her own bed and she did. Maryanna pretty much did things on her own terms and was happy about her life overall. She cried in the last year or so every time we talked on the phone. We usually talked about twice a week. I was closer to Maryanna in some ways more than my own mom as she had the ability to share her feelings and be vulnerable to others in a way that my mom never could. Maryanna was a good listener and was able to give a lot of good advice. she was usually right but even when she wasn't the thought she was! About 3 weeks ago she asked me to come see her so I cleared my schedule and flew in for a day just to visit her. We had a good talk but I knew somehow when I left that it was my last time to see her on this side of heaven and I told Barry that I felt like this was going to be her last Christmas. She lived a full life and was glad to serve the Lord on this side of heaven and she was ready for her promotion.
It has been said that being rich is not about how much you have but about how little you need. All Maryanna needed was the ability to prepare a hot home cooked meal for a friend, time for fellowship with the ones she loved and exercising her faith with the many works they she did over her life to expand the kingdom of God. I know that Maryanna has met up with Frank and my mom and dad and the other friends they shared and they are probably dancing to some of their favorite tunes just like they did in the Knights of Columbus monthly dance club. We will all miss Maryanna's friendship, love, hospitality, and humor but we are rich with many treasures of memories that will keep us laughing for a lifetime. Her legacy was love and her message was faithfulness. She lived it every day and she blessed many people in her community. Maryanna, always the good Samaritan, was the only Jesus that some people ever saw and her life was the only Bible that they read. I was proud to call her my God mother as she sponsored me in my confirmation and I am a better person to have learned from her wisdom and love and mentoring over many years of being in relationship with her.
I encourage each of you to follow your passion that God has given you and use it to share the Lord's love to others. Maryanna did that and left a rich legacy and example for all of us to pattern our lives after her. Remember her with joy and love and do not grieve because as believers in Jesus Christ we will all meet again in heaven someday and what a joyful day that will be.
Let us pray,
We thank you Lord Jesus for the privilege to know Maryanna and to have the opportunity to take inspiration from her life. Comfort the family and friends as we grieve her passing and instill hope in our spirits that we will reunite with her someday.
Amen.
Mary Anna is survived by her daughter, Leigh Ann Stanford; sons, Gary Franklin McMahan and Ronald Lewis McMahan; 11 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; and a great-great grandson.
She was preceded in death by her husband and two brothers, John C. Deckelman, Jr. and James Melvin Deckelman.
Following eulogy was written and read at funeral by Diane Keisling Perkins
Maryanna was a woman of faith. Her faith in action blessed so many people in her life. Everyone here today who knew Maryanna was blessed by her faithfulness in some way. Maryanna was always helping people and was always bringing happiness to any gathering. She lit up the room with her smile and her loud high voice. There was never a mistake about when Maryanna was at the party. Her zeal for life was contagious.
I met Maryanna when I was 2 years old after we moved to Lubbock from Midland and joined Christ the King parish. I can never remember a time when Maryanna was not a large part of my life. I hold many treasured memories of swimming in her pool as a young child and always attending her annual tradition of the New Years Eve party. Each year had a core group in attendance and also some distant friend or relative in town for the holidays would join us. A great reunion nonetheless. I remember running up and down the halls playing hide and seek and tormenting the bigger kids when they got a pool table as they tried to play pool without us underfoot. I remember Frank and Maryanna would heat the pool for the party and it would have steam for about 2 feet high and we would swim and play in the water until nearly midnight. I remember playing the big jukebox with records of old German polkas and learning to dance the Lilly Marlena polka with Maryanna. I would dance on my daddy's feet to the slow songs and he would twirl me around and around. I felt like a princess when he danced with me. New year's eve was always fun because there was so much energy in the house and also fireworks outside. Daddy would buy me sparklers and I would go out with the other kids and hold the sparklers and make designs in the air until they finally went out. New years eve was full of many happy times and memories of the McMahan's hospitality and love for us all.
Maryanna was active with Frank in the Boy Scouts. I remember going with them on the 50 mile hike when I was about 5 or 6 years old and getting to sleep in a pop up camper. What an exciting outing. I remember how active Maryanna and Frank were in the school at Christ the King and how they helped out at the pancake suppers, shrimp peel fundraisers, and other events at the church. Maryanna loved her kids and was so proud of all 3 of them.
Leigh Ann- she was proud of you and how you could garden and make salsa and other things that you helped her with canning each year. She loved to cook with you and she is proud of your kids and grandkids and always bragged to me about one of them each time we talked or shared what was happening in their lives. She is happy that you and David found each other and you both blessed her in many ways that you will never know. David- she loved you like a son.
Gary- she was extremely proud of your service in the military and was glad that you retired with full retirement. I remember when you first retired she was so proud of you because you were making wood and glass cases for folded American flags and she really liked that. She must have told me about it 10 times. She is also very proud and happy for you and your new family.
Ronald- Maryanna was proud of your business skills and success in your career. She was also proud of your kids- both sets of boys. She loved them all and was proud of them all.
Mary Teresa- she was just telling me a few weeks ago when I was here that you were always going to be her daughter and she loved you so much and was so proud of you in your nursing career. She knew how much you always loved her and she loved you greatly.
I know that we all have stories we could tell for hours about Maryanna. We can all agree that she was a funny lady and made people laugh. She really didn't care what people thought about her and she always erred on the side of love. Maryanna used her gifts and talents to nurture people with food. She had 2 words that I would always hear if I was around her- "Gotta Eat". When my mom got a reoccurrence of cancer I can remember Maryanna making dinner every night and bringing it to them at their house at about 5:00 so she could get home before dark. She did not like to drive in the dark. I can honestly say that I believe that if it were not for her in their life at that time my parents would have starved. When Frank died in 1986 Maryanna traveled with my parents for 10 years before my mom died in 1996. They went on many trips to Vegas, Ruidoso, Santé Fe, New Orleans, San Antonio, Missouri, Tennessee, Arizona, Florida, California, and Colorado to name a few. They were like the 3 musketeers and always had a funny story to tell about their adventures. Sometimes people would mistake her for daddy's wife because they argued like spouses and were both hard headed as they could be. My mom would just sit back and occasionally referee when they would run a subject in the ground. Especially politics. Daddy would love to discuss the good and bad of Truman vs. Eisenhower with Maryanna and Frank just to get them riled up. he knew which buttons to push for sure.
When I was battling my first round of cancer Maryanna prayed for me- some people say that they will pray and they never do. Maryanna put her faith in action and had a healing mass said on my behalf. One day I was very low and the mail came with a commemorative card from Maryanna's parish with the details of the mass that was said in my honor. I was so touched by her faithfulness and love.
One time a few years ago Maryanna was visiting friends in Ft. Worth and asked me to drive her to OKC to visit her cousin Melvin and his wife Mary. I offered to buy her a plane ticket but she just wanted to spend a few hours visiting Barry and me so we agreed. We picked her up and took her to lunch and got on the road for a nice 3 hour drive. When we left OKC there was an accident and road construction that closed the road and it took us 8 or 9 hours to get home. We laughed about the adventure and agreed it was worth it just for a few laughs with Maryanna on the way.
One funny story about Maryanna I remember happened one Easter in the late 80's. The 3 of them came to visit me and we all went up to the farmhouse at Van Alstyne for the day. She was determined to get the wild cats out of the farm house and to get the bushes trimmed out front that day before we went back to my house in Plano. You could not talk her out of it. Hence the nickname- hard headed Hanna. We worked in the yard. She had a duster powder puff with sulfur on it to keep the chiggers off our pants and she would dab it on our legs and feet. She directed the activities while she sipped on a scotch. I kept telling her that there was poison ivy in the bushes and she argued that there was not and told me to keep cutting. That night we got home and I was covered with poison ivy and eaten up with chiggers. She said not to worry about it as it was just part of being in the country. We decided to get her back. She went to bed early after a few too many scotches and nestled in the king size bed in my room. She ordered us to keep that varmint cat out of my room. We had a cat named Mia and I let the cat sleep in my room because I had a kitty door to the outside from my room. I later went to bed in my room to find Maryanna sawing logs. That night I woke up because Maryanna was snoring loudly. She did not have in her teeth and she was laying on her back with her mouth wide open-What a sight! The cat was looking down in her mouth and then looking at me trying to figure out what the noise was all about. Mia meowed and then laid down and slept on her shoulder and the top of head most of the night. I should have had a camera as she never wanted to believe she had just snuggled all night that varmint cat! Telling that story over and over has brought a lot a laughter for us all.
Maryanna always offered food to anyone who came to the door. When I would come by for a visit when I was I Lubbock she would load me down with fresh vegetables from the garden and a frozen rum cake for Barry. Every year she made a rum cake for my birthday, Barry's birthday and for both of us at Christmas. A couple of months ago Maryanna wanted to send me 2 rum cakes but was complaining about the postage being so high so I sent her some Fed Ex prepaid slips so she could send me rum cakes any time she wanted. She heard I was having a party so she sent one overnight with Sat. delivery and I got it in time to serve that night. She then sent 2 more and I called her to ask why she was loading me up with rum cakes? She said that she was getting ready to go and wanted me to have them. I had a long talk with her about that and she just said that she was tired and was ready. She began to have more aches and pains and rashes from her psoriasis in different manifestations and she was tired of living in that scooter. She was lonely at the house but she did not want to leave it. She asked me to make sure that her kids did not put her in a home when she got bad off. She said she just wanted to go to heaven from her house in her own bed and she did. Maryanna pretty much did things on her own terms and was happy about her life overall. She cried in the last year or so every time we talked on the phone. We usually talked about twice a week. I was closer to Maryanna in some ways more than my own mom as she had the ability to share her feelings and be vulnerable to others in a way that my mom never could. Maryanna was a good listener and was able to give a lot of good advice. she was usually right but even when she wasn't the thought she was! About 3 weeks ago she asked me to come see her so I cleared my schedule and flew in for a day just to visit her. We had a good talk but I knew somehow when I left that it was my last time to see her on this side of heaven and I told Barry that I felt like this was going to be her last Christmas. She lived a full life and was glad to serve the Lord on this side of heaven and she was ready for her promotion.
It has been said that being rich is not about how much you have but about how little you need. All Maryanna needed was the ability to prepare a hot home cooked meal for a friend, time for fellowship with the ones she loved and exercising her faith with the many works they she did over her life to expand the kingdom of God. I know that Maryanna has met up with Frank and my mom and dad and the other friends they shared and they are probably dancing to some of their favorite tunes just like they did in the Knights of Columbus monthly dance club. We will all miss Maryanna's friendship, love, hospitality, and humor but we are rich with many treasures of memories that will keep us laughing for a lifetime. Her legacy was love and her message was faithfulness. She lived it every day and she blessed many people in her community. Maryanna, always the good Samaritan, was the only Jesus that some people ever saw and her life was the only Bible that they read. I was proud to call her my God mother as she sponsored me in my confirmation and I am a better person to have learned from her wisdom and love and mentoring over many years of being in relationship with her.
I encourage each of you to follow your passion that God has given you and use it to share the Lord's love to others. Maryanna did that and left a rich legacy and example for all of us to pattern our lives after her. Remember her with joy and love and do not grieve because as believers in Jesus Christ we will all meet again in heaven someday and what a joyful day that will be.
Let us pray,
We thank you Lord Jesus for the privilege to know Maryanna and to have the opportunity to take inspiration from her life. Comfort the family and friends as we grieve her passing and instill hope in our spirits that we will reunite with her someday.
Amen.
Mary Anna was born on August 27, 1922 in El Dorado, KS to John C. and Ruby Deckelman. She married Eli Franklin McMahan, Jr. on June 14, 1941. Together, they owned and operated Pangburn Safe & Lock in Lubbock for over 35 years. Mary Anna was also a Camp Fire Girl Leader and a Cub Scout Leader for many years. She was also a long time member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church.
Mary Anna is survived by her daughter, Leigh Ann Stanford; sons, Gary Franklin McMahan and Ronald Lewis McMahan; 11 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; and a great-great grandson.
She was preceded in death by her husband and two brothers, John C. Deckelman, Jr. and James Melvin Deckelman.
Following eulogy was written and read at funeral by Diane Keisling Perkins
Maryanna was a woman of faith. Her faith in action blessed so many people in her life. Everyone here today who knew Maryanna was blessed by her faithfulness in some way. Maryanna was always helping people and was always bringing happiness to any gathering. She lit up the room with her smile and her loud high voice. There was never a mistake about when Maryanna was at the party. Her zeal for life was contagious.
I met Maryanna when I was 2 years old after we moved to Lubbock from Midland and joined Christ the King parish. I can never remember a time when Maryanna was not a large part of my life. I hold many treasured memories of swimming in her pool as a young child and always attending her annual tradition of the New Years Eve party. Each year had a core group in attendance and also some distant friend or relative in town for the holidays would join us. A great reunion nonetheless. I remember running up and down the halls playing hide and seek and tormenting the bigger kids when they got a pool table as they tried to play pool without us underfoot. I remember Frank and Maryanna would heat the pool for the party and it would have steam for about 2 feet high and we would swim and play in the water until nearly midnight. I remember playing the big jukebox with records of old German polkas and learning to dance the Lilly Marlena polka with Maryanna. I would dance on my daddy's feet to the slow songs and he would twirl me around and around. I felt like a princess when he danced with me. New year's eve was always fun because there was so much energy in the house and also fireworks outside. Daddy would buy me sparklers and I would go out with the other kids and hold the sparklers and make designs in the air until they finally went out. New years eve was full of many happy times and memories of the McMahan's hospitality and love for us all.
Maryanna was active with Frank in the Boy Scouts. I remember going with them on the 50 mile hike when I was about 5 or 6 years old and getting to sleep in a pop up camper. What an exciting outing. I remember how active Maryanna and Frank were in the school at Christ the King and how they helped out at the pancake suppers, shrimp peel fundraisers, and other events at the church. Maryanna loved her kids and was so proud of all 3 of them.
Leigh Ann- she was proud of you and how you could garden and make salsa and other things that you helped her with canning each year. She loved to cook with you and she is proud of your kids and grandkids and always bragged to me about one of them each time we talked or shared what was happening in their lives. She is happy that you and David found each other and you both blessed her in many ways that you will never know. David- she loved you like a son.
Gary- she was extremely proud of your service in the military and was glad that you retired with full retirement. I remember when you first retired she was so proud of you because you were making wood and glass cases for folded American flags and she really liked that. She must have told me about it 10 times. She is also very proud and happy for you and your new family.
Ronald- Maryanna was proud of your business skills and success in your career. She was also proud of your kids- both sets of boys. She loved them all and was proud of them all.
Mary Teresa- she was just telling me a few weeks ago when I was here that you were always going to be her daughter and she loved you so much and was so proud of you in your nursing career. She knew how much you always loved her and she loved you greatly.
I know that we all have stories we could tell for hours about Maryanna. We can all agree that she was a funny lady and made people laugh. She really didn't care what people thought about her and she always erred on the side of love. Maryanna used her gifts and talents to nurture people with food. She had 2 words that I would always hear if I was around her- "Gotta Eat". When my mom got a reoccurrence of cancer I can remember Maryanna making dinner every night and bringing it to them at their house at about 5:00 so she could get home before dark. She did not like to drive in the dark. I can honestly say that I believe that if it were not for her in their life at that time my parents would have starved. When Frank died in 1986 Maryanna traveled with my parents for 10 years before my mom died in 1996. They went on many trips to Vegas, Ruidoso, Santé Fe, New Orleans, San Antonio, Missouri, Tennessee, Arizona, Florida, California, and Colorado to name a few. They were like the 3 musketeers and always had a funny story to tell about their adventures. Sometimes people would mistake her for daddy's wife because they argued like spouses and were both hard headed as they could be. My mom would just sit back and occasionally referee when they would run a subject in the ground. Especially politics. Daddy would love to discuss the good and bad of Truman vs. Eisenhower with Maryanna and Frank just to get them riled up. he knew which buttons to push for sure.
When I was battling my first round of cancer Maryanna prayed for me- some people say that they will pray and they never do. Maryanna put her faith in action and had a healing mass said on my behalf. One day I was very low and the mail came with a commemorative card from Maryanna's parish with the details of the mass that was said in my honor. I was so touched by her faithfulness and love.
One time a few years ago Maryanna was visiting friends in Ft. Worth and asked me to drive her to OKC to visit her cousin Melvin and his wife Mary. I offered to buy her a plane ticket but she just wanted to spend a few hours visiting Barry and me so we agreed. We picked her up and took her to lunch and got on the road for a nice 3 hour drive. When we left OKC there was an accident and road construction that closed the road and it took us 8 or 9 hours to get home. We laughed about the adventure and agreed it was worth it just for a few laughs with Maryanna on the way.
One funny story about Maryanna I remember happened one Easter in the late 80's. The 3 of them came to visit me and we all went up to the farmhouse at Van Alstyne for the day. She was determined to get the wild cats out of the farm house and to get the bushes trimmed out front that day before we went back to my house in Plano. You could not talk her out of it. Hence the nickname- hard headed Hanna. We worked in the yard. She had a duster powder puff with sulfur on it to keep the chiggers off our pants and she would dab it on our legs and feet. She directed the activities while she sipped on a scotch. I kept telling her that there was poison ivy in the bushes and she argued that there was not and told me to keep cutting. That night we got home and I was covered with poison ivy and eaten up with chiggers. She said not to worry about it as it was just part of being in the country. We decided to get her back. She went to bed early after a few too many scotches and nestled in the king size bed in my room. She ordered us to keep that varmint cat out of my room. We had a cat named Mia and I let the cat sleep in my room because I had a kitty door to the outside from my room. I later went to bed in my room to find Maryanna sawing logs. That night I woke up because Maryanna was snoring loudly. She did not have in her teeth and she was laying on her back with her mouth wide open-What a sight! The cat was looking down in her mouth and then looking at me trying to figure out what the noise was all about. Mia meowed and then laid down and slept on her shoulder and the top of head most of the night. I should have had a camera as she never wanted to believe she had just snuggled all night that varmint cat! Telling that story over and over has brought a lot a laughter for us all.
Maryanna always offered food to anyone who came to the door. When I would come by for a visit when I was I Lubbock she would load me down with fresh vegetables from the garden and a frozen rum cake for Barry. Every year she made a rum cake for my birthday, Barry's birthday and for both of us at Christmas. A couple of months ago Maryanna wanted to send me 2 rum cakes but was complaining about the postage being so high so I sent her some Fed Ex prepaid slips so she could send me rum cakes any time she wanted. She heard I was having a party so she sent one overnight with Sat. delivery and I got it in time to serve that night. She then sent 2 more and I called her to ask why she was loading me up with rum cakes? She said that she was getting ready to go and wanted me to have them. I had a long talk with her about that and she just said that she was tired and was ready. She began to have more aches and pains and rashes from her psoriasis in different manifestations and she was tired of living in that scooter. She was lonely at the house but she did not want to leave it. She asked me to make sure that her kids did not put her in a home when she got bad off. She said she just wanted to go to heaven from her house in her own bed and she did. Maryanna pretty much did things on her own terms and was happy about her life overall. She cried in the last year or so every time we talked on the phone. We usually talked about twice a week. I was closer to Maryanna in some ways more than my own mom as she had the ability to share her feelings and be vulnerable to others in a way that my mom never could. Maryanna was a good listener and was able to give a lot of good advice. she was usually right but even when she wasn't the thought she was! About 3 weeks ago she asked me to come see her so I cleared my schedule and flew in for a day just to visit her. We had a good talk but I knew somehow when I left that it was my last time to see her on this side of heaven and I told Barry that I felt like this was going to be her last Christmas. She lived a full life and was glad to serve the Lord on this side of heaven and she was ready for her promotion.
It has been said that being rich is not about how much you have but about how little you need. All Maryanna needed was the ability to prepare a hot home cooked meal for a friend, time for fellowship with the ones she loved and exercising her faith with the many works they she did over her life to expand the kingdom of God. I know that Maryanna has met up with Frank and my mom and dad and the other friends they shared and they are probably dancing to some of their favorite tunes just like they did in the Knights of Columbus monthly dance club. We will all miss Maryanna's friendship, love, hospitality, and humor but we are rich with many treasures of memories that will keep us laughing for a lifetime. Her legacy was love and her message was faithfulness. She lived it every day and she blessed many people in her community. Maryanna, always the good Samaritan, was the only Jesus that some people ever saw and her life was the only Bible that they read. I was proud to call her my God mother as she sponsored me in my confirmation and I am a better person to have learned from her wisdom and love and mentoring over many years of being in relationship with her.
I encourage each of you to follow your passion that God has given you and use it to share the Lord's love to others. Maryanna did that and left a rich legacy and example for all of us to pattern our lives after her. Remember her with joy and love and do not grieve because as believers in Jesus Christ we will all meet again in heaven someday and what a joyful day that will be.
Let us pray,
We thank you Lord Jesus for the privilege to know Maryanna and to have the opportunity to take inspiration from her life. Comfort the family and friends as we grieve her passing and instill hope in our spirits that we will reunite with her someday.
Amen.
Mary Anna is survived by her daughter, Leigh Ann Stanford; sons, Gary Franklin McMahan and Ronald Lewis McMahan; 11 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; and a great-great grandson.
She was preceded in death by her husband and two brothers, John C. Deckelman, Jr. and James Melvin Deckelman.
Following eulogy was written and read at funeral by Diane Keisling Perkins
Maryanna was a woman of faith. Her faith in action blessed so many people in her life. Everyone here today who knew Maryanna was blessed by her faithfulness in some way. Maryanna was always helping people and was always bringing happiness to any gathering. She lit up the room with her smile and her loud high voice. There was never a mistake about when Maryanna was at the party. Her zeal for life was contagious.
I met Maryanna when I was 2 years old after we moved to Lubbock from Midland and joined Christ the King parish. I can never remember a time when Maryanna was not a large part of my life. I hold many treasured memories of swimming in her pool as a young child and always attending her annual tradition of the New Years Eve party. Each year had a core group in attendance and also some distant friend or relative in town for the holidays would join us. A great reunion nonetheless. I remember running up and down the halls playing hide and seek and tormenting the bigger kids when they got a pool table as they tried to play pool without us underfoot. I remember Frank and Maryanna would heat the pool for the party and it would have steam for about 2 feet high and we would swim and play in the water until nearly midnight. I remember playing the big jukebox with records of old German polkas and learning to dance the Lilly Marlena polka with Maryanna. I would dance on my daddy's feet to the slow songs and he would twirl me around and around. I felt like a princess when he danced with me. New year's eve was always fun because there was so much energy in the house and also fireworks outside. Daddy would buy me sparklers and I would go out with the other kids and hold the sparklers and make designs in the air until they finally went out. New years eve was full of many happy times and memories of the McMahan's hospitality and love for us all.
Maryanna was active with Frank in the Boy Scouts. I remember going with them on the 50 mile hike when I was about 5 or 6 years old and getting to sleep in a pop up camper. What an exciting outing. I remember how active Maryanna and Frank were in the school at Christ the King and how they helped out at the pancake suppers, shrimp peel fundraisers, and other events at the church. Maryanna loved her kids and was so proud of all 3 of them.
Leigh Ann- she was proud of you and how you could garden and make salsa and other things that you helped her with canning each year. She loved to cook with you and she is proud of your kids and grandkids and always bragged to me about one of them each time we talked or shared what was happening in their lives. She is happy that you and David found each other and you both blessed her in many ways that you will never know. David- she loved you like a son.
Gary- she was extremely proud of your service in the military and was glad that you retired with full retirement. I remember when you first retired she was so proud of you because you were making wood and glass cases for folded American flags and she really liked that. She must have told me about it 10 times. She is also very proud and happy for you and your new family.
Ronald- Maryanna was proud of your business skills and success in your career. She was also proud of your kids- both sets of boys. She loved them all and was proud of them all.
Mary Teresa- she was just telling me a few weeks ago when I was here that you were always going to be her daughter and she loved you so much and was so proud of you in your nursing career. She knew how much you always loved her and she loved you greatly.
I know that we all have stories we could tell for hours about Maryanna. We can all agree that she was a funny lady and made people laugh. She really didn't care what people thought about her and she always erred on the side of love. Maryanna used her gifts and talents to nurture people with food. She had 2 words that I would always hear if I was around her- "Gotta Eat". When my mom got a reoccurrence of cancer I can remember Maryanna making dinner every night and bringing it to them at their house at about 5:00 so she could get home before dark. She did not like to drive in the dark. I can honestly say that I believe that if it were not for her in their life at that time my parents would have starved. When Frank died in 1986 Maryanna traveled with my parents for 10 years before my mom died in 1996. They went on many trips to Vegas, Ruidoso, Santé Fe, New Orleans, San Antonio, Missouri, Tennessee, Arizona, Florida, California, and Colorado to name a few. They were like the 3 musketeers and always had a funny story to tell about their adventures. Sometimes people would mistake her for daddy's wife because they argued like spouses and were both hard headed as they could be. My mom would just sit back and occasionally referee when they would run a subject in the ground. Especially politics. Daddy would love to discuss the good and bad of Truman vs. Eisenhower with Maryanna and Frank just to get them riled up. he knew which buttons to push for sure.
When I was battling my first round of cancer Maryanna prayed for me- some people say that they will pray and they never do. Maryanna put her faith in action and had a healing mass said on my behalf. One day I was very low and the mail came with a commemorative card from Maryanna's parish with the details of the mass that was said in my honor. I was so touched by her faithfulness and love.
One time a few years ago Maryanna was visiting friends in Ft. Worth and asked me to drive her to OKC to visit her cousin Melvin and his wife Mary. I offered to buy her a plane ticket but she just wanted to spend a few hours visiting Barry and me so we agreed. We picked her up and took her to lunch and got on the road for a nice 3 hour drive. When we left OKC there was an accident and road construction that closed the road and it took us 8 or 9 hours to get home. We laughed about the adventure and agreed it was worth it just for a few laughs with Maryanna on the way.
One funny story about Maryanna I remember happened one Easter in the late 80's. The 3 of them came to visit me and we all went up to the farmhouse at Van Alstyne for the day. She was determined to get the wild cats out of the farm house and to get the bushes trimmed out front that day before we went back to my house in Plano. You could not talk her out of it. Hence the nickname- hard headed Hanna. We worked in the yard. She had a duster powder puff with sulfur on it to keep the chiggers off our pants and she would dab it on our legs and feet. She directed the activities while she sipped on a scotch. I kept telling her that there was poison ivy in the bushes and she argued that there was not and told me to keep cutting. That night we got home and I was covered with poison ivy and eaten up with chiggers. She said not to worry about it as it was just part of being in the country. We decided to get her back. She went to bed early after a few too many scotches and nestled in the king size bed in my room. She ordered us to keep that varmint cat out of my room. We had a cat named Mia and I let the cat sleep in my room because I had a kitty door to the outside from my room. I later went to bed in my room to find Maryanna sawing logs. That night I woke up because Maryanna was snoring loudly. She did not have in her teeth and she was laying on her back with her mouth wide open-What a sight! The cat was looking down in her mouth and then looking at me trying to figure out what the noise was all about. Mia meowed and then laid down and slept on her shoulder and the top of head most of the night. I should have had a camera as she never wanted to believe she had just snuggled all night that varmint cat! Telling that story over and over has brought a lot a laughter for us all.
Maryanna always offered food to anyone who came to the door. When I would come by for a visit when I was I Lubbock she would load me down with fresh vegetables from the garden and a frozen rum cake for Barry. Every year she made a rum cake for my birthday, Barry's birthday and for both of us at Christmas. A couple of months ago Maryanna wanted to send me 2 rum cakes but was complaining about the postage being so high so I sent her some Fed Ex prepaid slips so she could send me rum cakes any time she wanted. She heard I was having a party so she sent one overnight with Sat. delivery and I got it in time to serve that night. She then sent 2 more and I called her to ask why she was loading me up with rum cakes? She said that she was getting ready to go and wanted me to have them. I had a long talk with her about that and she just said that she was tired and was ready. She began to have more aches and pains and rashes from her psoriasis in different manifestations and she was tired of living in that scooter. She was lonely at the house but she did not want to leave it. She asked me to make sure that her kids did not put her in a home when she got bad off. She said she just wanted to go to heaven from her house in her own bed and she did. Maryanna pretty much did things on her own terms and was happy about her life overall. She cried in the last year or so every time we talked on the phone. We usually talked about twice a week. I was closer to Maryanna in some ways more than my own mom as she had the ability to share her feelings and be vulnerable to others in a way that my mom never could. Maryanna was a good listener and was able to give a lot of good advice. she was usually right but even when she wasn't the thought she was! About 3 weeks ago she asked me to come see her so I cleared my schedule and flew in for a day just to visit her. We had a good talk but I knew somehow when I left that it was my last time to see her on this side of heaven and I told Barry that I felt like this was going to be her last Christmas. She lived a full life and was glad to serve the Lord on this side of heaven and she was ready for her promotion.
It has been said that being rich is not about how much you have but about how little you need. All Maryanna needed was the ability to prepare a hot home cooked meal for a friend, time for fellowship with the ones she loved and exercising her faith with the many works they she did over her life to expand the kingdom of God. I know that Maryanna has met up with Frank and my mom and dad and the other friends they shared and they are probably dancing to some of their favorite tunes just like they did in the Knights of Columbus monthly dance club. We will all miss Maryanna's friendship, love, hospitality, and humor but we are rich with many treasures of memories that will keep us laughing for a lifetime. Her legacy was love and her message was faithfulness. She lived it every day and she blessed many people in her community. Maryanna, always the good Samaritan, was the only Jesus that some people ever saw and her life was the only Bible that they read. I was proud to call her my God mother as she sponsored me in my confirmation and I am a better person to have learned from her wisdom and love and mentoring over many years of being in relationship with her.
I encourage each of you to follow your passion that God has given you and use it to share the Lord's love to others. Maryanna did that and left a rich legacy and example for all of us to pattern our lives after her. Remember her with joy and love and do not grieve because as believers in Jesus Christ we will all meet again in heaven someday and what a joyful day that will be.
Let us pray,
We thank you Lord Jesus for the privilege to know Maryanna and to have the opportunity to take inspiration from her life. Comfort the family and friends as we grieve her passing and instill hope in our spirits that we will reunite with her someday.
Amen.
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