Mary Sue Thornton passed away peacefully at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas on February 20th, 2024, at the age of 84.
Visitation will be held from 1:00 to 2:00pm on Monday, March 4th, 2024, at Griffin-Roughton Funeral Home in Fairfield, Texas followed by the funeral service at 2:00pm. Interment at the Bonner Cemetery will be immediately following the service.
Mary Sue was born on May 20th, 1939, in Muskogee, Oklahoma to Murrell Howard Thornton and Sarah Harris Thornton. Mary Sue grew up and went to school in Muskogee and spent summers and holidays at the family farm in Stewards Mill, Texas. She graduated as valedictorian from Central High School, Muskogee in 1957. She went on to attend the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1961. Mary Sue was a member of the Presbyterian Church, Phi Theta Kappa, Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Beta Phi, Mortar Board, Pi Mu Epsilon, and the Cotillion Club. Mary Sue enjoyed a long and successful career as a computer programmer and software engineer at LTV/E-Systems/Raytheon, where she worked on highly classified programs. It was at LTV that Mary Sue met Ed Redwine, her future husband. Amongst many other projects, Mary Sue did programming for the NASA Apollo missions, and she and Ed were on the initial team that delivered & installed the first software/firmware/hardware system at the Joint Defense Space Research Facility in Alice Springs, Australia in 1972. Mary Sue was listed in Who’s Who in Computers and Data Processing Vol. 1 in 1971.
Mary Sue and Ed dated for 14 years and married in 1980 in the Presbyterian Church in Fairfield. They bought a historic home in the Highland Park neighborhood of Dallas and relocated there in 1990. They were married for 42 years, working together as software engineers, spending their time side by side, and collaborating on all facets of life. Mary Sue, along with Ed, was a member of the Raytheon Retirees Association, Southwest Cattle Raisers Association, Texas Farm Bureau, Trinity Star Arts Council, and the Sheriff’s Association of Texas. Mary Sue and Ed enjoyed a variety of activities throughout the years, including tennis, square dancing at the C3B level and working on the C4 level (the black belt of square dancing), and the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. They maintained a Thursday night supper club tradition for 17 years at Aboca’s restaurant. Mary Sue loved managing the family farm in Stewards Mill, walking the pastures with Ed, looking for lost cows, and mending fences. She maintained strong Bonner family and community ties, always attending the Bonner family reunions, the Bonner Cemetery annual meeting, the Stewards Mill Homecoming, the TSAC and farm bureau events in Fairfield, and, when schedule permitted, the Christmas program at the Stewards Mill church. She and Ed continued to maintain the family farmhouse in Stewards Mill where Mary Sue’s grandparents lived.
Mary Sue was an original member of the Class Act Tap Company from its inception in August 1986. Class Act is a tap dance company for senior women, and it became a huge part of her life. She performed with Class Act and served as their director until February 2023. Mary Sue, as a dedicated volunteer director, managed to schedule over 3,300 performances entertaining at senior communities, veteran’s celebrations, corporate events, and church functions. She tirelessly taught tap lessons to some of the ladies who had never danced before. She delighted in spreading joy to all the audiences, as she loved their smiles and the appreciation for having their spirits lifted. When Mary Sue missed a performance, which was rare, audiences would ask for her. In addition to Class Act, Mary Sue was also an avid performer for the Spectacular Follies for the past 12 years. At 4’9”, she wore beautiful, very high heels and would chuckle with “Small people have small wrinkles!”. She brought high energy and a keen sense of humor to all her dancing activities. In the words of her friends, Mary Sue was one of a kind and will be greatly missed by all who loved her.
Mary Sue was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her aunt, Sue Bonner Thornton. She is survived by her nephew-in-law, Eric Wilbur Trammell; Eric’s family (wife, Tays Oliveira Trammell; son, William Fonseca Trammell; and daughters Emily Fonseca Trammell and Anna Oliveira Trammell); and by various cousins including Bobby, Frank, and Jody Bonner.
An online guest book is available at www.griffin-roughton.com
Arrangements by Griffin-Roughton Funeral Home
