Mary Anne Coney

Mary Anne Coney (née Lockey) died peacefully in her sleep at University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Tyler, the morning of Thursday July 17th.

She was born at Hope Cottage in Dallas Texas on March 17th, 1941, and was raised in Troup by E.D. and Savannah Lockey. Later in life, she discovered her birth parents Raymond Mitchell and Loudell Wasson of Groesbeck.

Mary Anne had a standard issue 1940s/1950s East Texas upbringing. She was a Bluebird and a Girl Scout. She sang in the Choral Club, was a clarinetist in the high school band, and served as a majorette. She taught swimming at the community pool, worked summers in the family business, and counted cows on the family ranch. She especially cherished family Christmases and road trips to many of our National Parks.

In 1958 she graduated from Troup High School, and moved to Dallas, where she attended SMU majoring in English. It was there she met her lifelong friend Quita and her first husband, Don Youngs. After graduating, Mary Anne and Don married and had two sons, Allen and Lance.

Always adventurous, Mary Anne took up scuba diving and traveled the Caribbean for over a decade, marveling at, and occasionally dining on, the local fauna. Eventually she moved back to Troup to care for her mother and her mother’s husband Otis Carnes. While living in Troup she met and married Elam Coney.

She was an active and dedicated member of the Troup Genealogical and Historical Society, the Friends of the Library, the Troup Educational Foundation, and the Bradford Cemetery Association.

During the final third of her life, Mary Anne had a rare chronic lung infection. Rather than giving up, she fought tirelessly to get better. She participated in more than 10 different research studies. One of these studies lead to the development of the first drug approved by the FDA for treatment of her lung infection. Mary Anne’s work with the physicians and scientists at University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center has led to improvement in thousands of other people's lives.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Savannah Lockey Carnes, E.D. Lockey, and Otis Carnes; her brother, Eddie Lockey; her husband, Elam Coney; and her close friends, Quita Bartholomew and Hellen Calip.

She is survived by her cousin Johnny Ashby; her sons, Allen and Lance, and their wives, Jacki and Georgia; her daughter Robin and her husband Chris; her sons Kevin and Daryll; and her daughter Jennifer.

She also leaves behind numerous grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, several dogs, a herd of deer, a barn cat, and a horse with an elevated love of carrots and poor eyesight.

A memorial is planned for some time in September; details will be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, our family kindly invites friends and loved ones to consider making a donation
in support of the Pulmonology Care Team, as well as ongoing research and education at The
University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine.
Your contribution will help advance compassionate care and medical discovery in honor of Mary
Anne Coney.

Donations can be made online or by mail using the information provided below.

Online
You may give through the following link below. In the comment section please add a comment in
honor of Mary Anne Coney.
http://www.uttyler.edu/givenow
Then in the Designation field type “Excellence in Pulmonary Medicine”.

Mail
Please include a note in honor of Mary Anne Coney
Attn: University Advancement
3900 University Blvd.
Tyler, Texas 75799

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