Mary Lee Gowland, the star of our hearts—age 73— quietly passed into another realm on April 5, 2023, attended by her husband Joe at their home in Kerrville, Texas.
Mary Lee maintained a good sense of humor throughout her life moving to Kerrville, Texas, in 2010 from Coarsegold, California.
Within her first year, she established Hill Country Poets, taught creative writing at Club Ed and in children’s programs, and met her beloved husband, Joe Conklin. Up until recently Mary Lee served as treasurer of Friends of the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial library, assisted Art2Heart after school programs, participated in the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library teen workshop, worked with the Kerr Legacy Christian Academy, Tom Daniels Elementary and Ray and Joan Kroc Center, and also taught adult poetry workshops. She had recently completed the second volume of her memoirs along with a book of poems inspired by writing prompts.