Marykay Todd

Mary Kathryn "MaryKay" Hardin Todd, age 97, of Clovis, New Mexico, entered into the kingdom of Heaven on January 20, 2019 in Farwell, Texas, just 29 days short of her 98th birthday. She was born on February 17, 1921 in Hardin County, Tennessee to the home of father, Watt Hardin and mother, Lola Sims Hardin.

MaryKay's family moved to Texas in 1922, and she claimed, "I walked barefoot all the way from Tennessee to Texas" - which isn't far from the truth: She took her first steps as a toddler teetering down the aisle of the railroad carriage car that took the family to the Texas Panhandle. She grew up on the various farms that her father and mother rented until the family finally owned a farm in the vicinity of Clarendon, Texas.

As a child during the Great Depression, MaryKay said she couldn't tell the difference on the farm since "everyone was poor." She had daily agricultural chores after school, and in the evening, she and her sisters did school work, mended clothes and quilted alongside their mother while her older brothers mended horse tack and farm implements. MaryKay was also a crack shot and could light a match with a .22 rifle at a hundred yards.

After graduating high school, she married Dexter Todd on March 26, 1939, and they lived in Clarendon and Amarillo, Texas. At one point for a year, they operated a Ben Franklin variety store in Hedley, Texas, but finally settled in Clovis, New Mexico, during the early years of World War II, where Dexter worked for Steed Funeral Home. MaryKay worked at Clovis Hospital and Citizen's Bank, consecutively for several years, and later worked as co-owner with her husband of a monument shop, Mission Garden Cemetery, and finally Steed-Todd Funeral Home, while also owning and operating Lawn Haven Cemetery.

She once remarked, "I've never had to look for a job, but worked every day of my life."

After 50 years of marriage, Dexter died on July 2, 1989. With her three children (Mark, Stephen, and Suzanne) grown up and husband gone, MaryKay dedicated herself to a lifelong dream of becoming an artist and took over 60 credit hours of painting classes at the local community college, producing many still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. She also became a master quilter - a skill she learned from her mother.

In her twilight years, and as the last remaining family member of her family's generation, MaryKay lived at home almost to the end, with daughter Suzanne looking after her, and only spending her remaining five months at Farwell Care & Rehab in Farwell, Texas.

Visitation will be on Wednesday, January 23, 2019 from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Steed Todd Funeral Home. Funeral services are Thursday, January 24, 2019, 11:00 AM in the Steed Todd Funeral Chapel with Pastor Wayne Boydstun officiating and Pastor Jason Todd co-officiating. Burial will follow at Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens.

Serving as pallbearers are Barry Kelley, Lance Adkins, Mike Walker, Jason Todd, Matt Todd and David Todd.

Visitation

Public Viewing

Steed-Todd Funeral Home
800 E Manana
Clovis, NM  88101
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
12:00pm to 7:00pm

Service

Funeral Services

Steed Todd Funeral Home Chapel
800 E. Manana Blvd
Clovis, NM  88101
Thursday, January 24, 2019
11:00 AM

Cemetery

Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens
1601 E. Llano Estacado
Clovis, NM  88101