Mary Lou Robertson

Mary Lou Robertson, 82, passed away peacefully Sunday, April 6, 2025 at home with family at her side. The services celebrating her life will be at 2PM Friday, April 11th at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest.

Mary Lou was born November 1st, 1942 in Sarasota, Florida where her father, Lt. Colonel French M Robertson was stationed during World War II, before returning to their hometown of Abilene. She graduated from Abilene High School in 1960 before studying Speech and Drama at McMurry College.

Also a highly regarded Interior Decorator, her eye for design and decor carried over to her passion for decorating around holidays. From her Dia de los Muertos decor and parties to her celebrations on Fourth of July, Christmas, and Easter - Mary Lou was the ultimate hostess, often serving classic creations from her aunt Hazel Womble's coveted cookbook. Accompanied by immaculate presentations and flawless execution, her friends half-jokingly called her Abilene's Martha Stewart. For Christmas she was known for giving paperwhites narcissus grow kits to roughly one hundred friends locally and out of town. Mary Lou was the local expert on how to get the paperwhites narcissus bulbs prepared precisely for blooming in winter.

Mary Lou was appointed by Governor Preston Smith to the Texas Commission on the Fine Arts, where she served from 1970 to 1983, rising to become Chairman in 1981 after being a Founding Member of The Texas Arts Alliance, Chairman of The Grant Committee, and Chairman of the Education Committee. She was awarded Honorary Life Member of the Texas Commission on the Fine Arts by Governor Bill Clements in 1983.

An opera lover, she was on the Board of Directors for Texas Opera Theater from 1980 - 1986. She also served on the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies from 1981 to 1983. Locally she served as President of Paramount Performing Arts Series in 1993, Chairman of the Zoobilitation Celebration in 1990, Founding member and Board of Directors for Abilene Opera Association, Board of Directors for Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, and was instrumental in helping launch the Buffalo Gap Arts Festival.

Beyond her professional and civic accomplishments, Mary Lou was known throughout the community for her unending generosity, her social spirit, her immaculate sense of style, and her late-life development as a painter under the mentorship of her dear friend and local artist, Evelyn Niblo. Through her exemplary graciousness and insistence on transcending divisiveness, Mary Lou was a consummate organizer and connector of people. Above all, she was one who brought fun to any gathering while exemplifying more interest in how others were doing than extolling her own accomplishments. She will be deeply missed by scores of dear friends both locally and coast to coast.

Survivors include her husband Ed Conley, her sons Scott Braymer and Martel Braymer, and her grandchildren, Carson Braymer, Hunter Braymer, and Anna Braymer.

The family would like to thank the exemplary staff at Hendricks Hospice, as well as the wonderful team at Hendricks Hospital.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Abilene Arts Alliance or The Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest.