Mrs. MARY JANE ROYSE MARKLAND

FORT WORTH -- Mary Jane Markland died peacefully on Friday morning, April 1, 2016, following a brief illness. Mrs. Markland was 93 years old. Memorial service: 3 p.m. Monday in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at University Christian Church, 2720 S. University Drive. Interment: She will be laid to rest privately next to her husband, Stanley, in Greenwood Memorial Park. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, consideration of contributions to the Weekday School at UCC is suggested. Born Aug. 12, 1922, in Organ Springs, Washington County, Ind., Mary was the daughter of John Loughmiller and Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Andrew Royse. Her parents ran a farm and Mary attended a one-room school through eighth grade. She met her future husband, Stanley Loraine Markland, at Hardingsburg High School in 1936; they were married on Christmas Day 1941. In 1942, Mary went to work in the Goodyear ammunition plant, where explosives were "bagged" for use in the U.S. Navy's big guns. When Stanley was drafted into the Army, Mary accompanied him to Clemson University where he studied electrical engineering before serving in the Pacific theater. Following the war, Mary and Stanley returned to Indiana where Stanley earned a degree from Indiana University in industrial production management. They had had a brief stay in Austin during Stanley's army career, thinking at the time that Texas would be an excellent place to settle after the war. That dream became reality when Stanley accepted a job in Fort Worth in 1951. Mary was a Blue Bird and Campfire leader and den mother while Sue and Dale attended elementary school. She taught Sunday school at the University Christian Church, becoming department chair when the school was at its peak. Moreover, she taught in the church's pre-school day school program for 30 years and was awarded the Brous Award for Outstanding Contribution to Young Children for Tarrant County in April, 1983. Mary also earned a CDA certification in 1975 in early childhood education, after Sue and Dale started college. She and Stanley retired in 1983 and began a tradition of taking at least one major and one minor vacation trip each year. Mary continued living in her Tanglewood neighborhood home after Stanley died in 1995, until moving to the Trinity Terrace senior living community in 2009. This gave her the pleasure of living among many of her friends and teaching colleagues from the University Christian Church. Survivors: In addition to her children, Sue Markland Day and her husband, Arthur, of Santa Rosa, Calif., and son, Dale Markland of Dallas, Mary is survived by her grandsons, Montgomery Markland and Douglas Markland, both of Los Angeles, Calif. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Mrs. MARY JANE ROYSE MARKLAND please visit our Sympathy Store.