Mary Jo Lavin

Our beloved mother, Mary Jo Lavin, left this world on October 4, 2021, due to complications from a stroke. She was surrounded by her children hearing only words of gratitude and love. She was born to Ernest and Almaretta Wolff on May 16, 1937, in Kansas City, Missouri, and was the second of seven children.

Upon her father’s return from serving in the Pacific Naval Fleet during World War II, the family moved to St. Louis, Missouri where she spent her adolescence and early adulthood. She attended Nerinx Hall High School, Saint John's Nursing School, and completed her Bachelor of Nursing at Saint Louis University. She had a love of music and was an accomplished opera singer, but her passion for helping people lead her to a career in nursing, with a primary focus on Pediatric and Emergency Medicine.

A chance meeting at church, followed by a breakfast date for pancakes after mass, lead to a forty-seven-year marriage to the great love of her life, our father Tom Lavin Sr. They were married in St. Louis in June of 1965, and they started to grow their family.

In 1969 Mary Jo and Tom Sr moved to Dallas with their three children Kathleen, Tom Jr., and Mary. In Dallas they welcomed another daughter Joanne, and a son Danny to the family. Tom Sr was transferred to Columbia, South Carolina in 1973 where the family spent the next seven years.

Mary Jo continued her career in nursing working in the Pediatric ICU and Emergency Departments at Lexington County Hospital. In 1980, the family once more moved back to the Dallas area and settled in Plano, where Mary Jo remained for the rest of her life. She worked briefly at Plano Medical Center then transitioned into what became her favorite job, being a school nurse for the Plano Independent School District. She spent the remainder of her career working as a school nurse until her retirement in 2000.

In retirement she continued her love of helping kids as a volunteer caretaker for children entering the foster care system. She also served on the Parent Planning and Network Advisory Committee for LifePath Systems for the last twenty years.

Mary Jo was a tireless advocate and supporter for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. She served eagerly on committees to improve services and education for people that cannot always speak up for themselves. She was devoted to all her children, but especially to her special needs son Danny. She recognized developmental delays in Danny while he was less than a year old and sought medical assistance, research, and advice from multiple University Medical Centers in Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta. She ensured Danny received all the advantages she could give him. She was a champion for the Special Olympics and was at every sporting and social event as Danny’s biggest supporter and tireless advocate.

With all these unanticipated yet impassioned responsibilities she always found time for each of her children. Late nights helping with homework, last minute science and art projects we “forgot” about, book reports, school field trips, PTA meetings, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, dance recitals, and sporting events. If there were volunteers needed, she was first to sign up. She was our constant cheerleader and most ardent supporter. When grandchildren came along, she started the process all over again with them. Her family was the biggest joy of her life, and she was our rock.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Tom Lavin Sr, her parents Ernest and Almaretta Wolff, her brother Jack Wolff, her sister Jenny Wolff, and her granddaughter Ireland Lavin-Owens. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Kathleen and Tim Bowe and their children TJ Bowe and Rachel Stevenson and their grandchild (Mary Jo’s great grandchild) Graham Stevenson, her son and son-in-law Tom Lavin and Selby Brown, her daughter and son-in-law Mary and Chris Owens and their children Ivy and Ella Owens, her daughter and son-in-law Joanne and Andrew Huffstetler and their children Thomas and Henry Huffstetler, her son Danny Lavin, her brother and sister in law Dick and Ann Wolff, her brother Gene Wolff, her sister and brother in law Alice and Art Tuhro, her sister Cathy Eskew, and multiple nieces and nephews.

Please join us to celebrate Mary Jo's life, Saturday, November 13, 2021, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Allen Family Funeral Options in Plano Texas.

She did not want a burial or formal religious service; her desire was only for the people she loved and cared about to get together and relish in all their memories of her and her life.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in Mary Jo’s name to LifePath Systems Foundation at https://lifepathfoundation.org , Special Olympics at https://support.specialolympics.org/ or the American Cancer Society at https://donate3.cancer.org/