Obituaries in Austin, TX | Austin American-Statesman

Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert, age 65, artist and humanities administrator, obtained her wings and flew away to heaven on 4/8/2022, the place she is not mobility-impaired. She died at her residence in Austin. The reason for demise was metastatic anaplastic thyroid most cancers, which Mary Ann fought courageously for sixteen years.

Mary Ann was born in Bryan, Texas in 1956 and was a 1975 graduate of Bryan Excessive College. Referred to as “Annie” to her household, she was preceded in demise by her mom Romanita Vaca Barrera and stepfather Victor Barrera of Bryan, TX, and her father Domingo Sauceda of Kalamazoo, MI. She is survived by her loving husband Mark Lambert of Austin, TX; her half-sister Teresa Barrera, of Austin, TX; her nephew James Barrera, spouse Paige and their son Ethan Barrera of Houston, TX; her half-sisters Julie Wrate and Theresa Sauceda and half-brother Domingo Sauceda Jr. of Kalamazoo, MI; her aunt Alice Pena and husband John Benavides of Austin, TX; Aunt Gloria Vasquez of Madisonville, TX; Aunt Jesse Maria Garrison of Austin, TX; and quite a few cousins, their spouses, nieces, nephews and their prolonged households.

Mary Ann was a graduate of Sam Houston State College, in Huntsville, TX with a BFA and MA in studio artwork. She was a devoted public servant offering arts applications and authorities providers to adults and kids for over 35 years, first within the Walker County Clerk’s Workplace (1 yr), then the Metropolis of Huntsville Enrichment Actions Program (HEAP) (11 years), subsequent the Harris County Precinct 2 Senior Residents and Youth Applications (7 years), and eventually the Metropolis of Austin’s Mexican American Cultural Middle (MACC) and Dougherty Arts Middle (DAC) (17 years), retiring in June 2021.

Mary Ann first discovered to stitch on the age of six and was a lifelong textile artist who labored in a number of different mediums together with drawing, printmaking, and pottery and later grew to become an expert quilter. She attended the Worldwide Quilt Pageant in Houston for over thirty years and was extraordinarily gratified when she was lastly capable of exhibit her personal artwork quilts there. Her quilts have been exhibited throughout the USA and in 5 different international locations (Mexico, Eire, England, Netherlands, Japan), together with on the Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange, TX and one in all her quilts was included within the publication Lone Stars III: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1986-2011 (UT Press, 2011), in addition to a number of different latest quilting publications. Her work will be seen at her web site Cloth2Art (hyperlink).

Although she was small, Mary Ann’s smile lit up a room, and her love for all the things and everybody oozed out of her pores; household and pals have been the middle of her life, and he or she was an educator at coronary heart, and very beneficiant of her time for any college students, family and friends who wished to be taught the humanities and household family tree; she was additionally a lifelong learner and was not afraid to attempt new issues; she had a toddler’s surprise of nature, and he or she tried to unfold magnificence wherever she went; and to her former Marine husband, she was an angel who had fallen to the earth.

Memorial Service/Celebration of Life: Saturday, Might 14th, 2022, at 2 pm, Prepare dinner-Walden Capitol Parks Funeral Residence, 14501 North Interstate 35, Pflugerville, TX 78660. Telephone: 512-251-4118.

A particular thanks goes to Mary Ann’s school roommate and finest buddy of the final thirty-one years, Jennifer Thayer, who was all the time there for her, particularly over the past yr. Buddies like which are extraordinarily uncommon artistic endeavors. The household would really like additionally to thank the devoted professionals on the MD Anderson Most cancers Middle (MDACC) Head and Neck Middle, most particularly to Dr. Amy Hessel, Dr. Camilo Jimenez, and Ms. Jodi Knott; Heavenly Care Residence Well being Care, particularly Viola Gamble; and Hospice Austin, particularly Nurse Mary Blaney, who helped prolong Mary Ann’s life with dignity and compassion in her ultimate years.

In lieu of flowers, donations will be made to one of many following charities in reminiscence of Mary Ann: Deliberate Parenthood; the Sam Houston State College Division of Artwork Buddies of Artwork Scholarships Fund; and the Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange, TX.