Mary Ann Evelyn Wilcox, 83

Mary Ann Evelyn Wilcox, age 83, passed away in The Woodlands, Texas, on August 3, 2018.

Mary Ann was born August 2, 1935 to Henry and Antonia Novotny in Le Center Township, Minnesota. She grew up on a farm near Le Center, and graduated from high school in nearby Montgomery.

In 1955, while working in Minneapolis for Cargill Corporation, she met Allan Wilcox, her husband of 63 years. They married July 2, 1955 in Montgomery, then moved shortly after to San Francisco.

During their two years in California, Mary Ann gave birth in 1956 to daughter Sheri. Two years later, back in Minnesota, she gave birth to son Scot. She and Allan raised their children in Waterville, which she always thought of as home.

Mary Ann was a devoted mother, but as her children grew up, she assumed an increasingly important role in the family weekly newspaper business. She served as Business Manager at The Waterville Advance (later rebranded as The Lake Region Life) for over a decade, and also provided important administrative support for the Life Newspapers chain of weekly community newspapers.

In the early 1980s, she and Allan retired and moved permanently to Texas – first to Port Aransas, then to Lago Vista, and finally to The Woodlands, where they lived for nearly three decades. In each of these communities, Mary Ann made many good friends with whom she especially enjoyed playing bridge.

Friends and family will remember Mary Ann as a great correspondent, a voracious reader, a happy traveler, and a loving wife, mother, and grandmother.

Mary Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Antonia Novotny; her brothers, Marlin and Milton Novotny; and her best friend and sister, Evelyn Fierst.

She is survived by her husband Allan; her daughter Sheri Wilcox and husband Duane Clementson of Houston, Texas; her son Scot Wilcox and his wife Annie Tremmel Wilcox of North Liberty, Iowa; and her four grandchildren, William and Elizabeth Clementson, and Zachary and Emily Wilcox.

At Mary Ann’s request, no services are planned at this time.