Mary Lou Ackley (Hines) Permenter

On February 20, 2022, our beloved Mary Louise (Lou) Ackley Hines Permenter, quietly passed away in Frisco, TX, at her residential care home, following a compounded illness. A native and lifelong Texan, Lou was born April 16, 1930, to Mary Louise Kern Ackley and Thomas W. Ackley in San Antonio. Along with her parents, Lou was also preceded in death by her son, James Thomas Hines; her husband, C.C. (Charles Cecil) Permenter; her sister, Nancy Jean Ackley Crawford; and her brother-in-law, Durwood Douglas Crawford.

Lou’s family moved from San Antonio to Dallas and then to Houston when she was in junior high school. Lou graduated from Lamar High School in Houston, and then attended and graduated from the Texas State College for Women (now Texas Woman’s University) in Denton with a degree in advertising/design which certified her to teach art at any level. While in college, Lou eloped, at age 19, with Chester Vernon Hines, who was a student at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas).

After Lou’s graduation, the couple moved to Houston and Lou entered the workforce while Chester completed his college education at the University of Houston. Lou first worked for Gulf Oil Company, drafting maps, but was drawn to teaching and became a full time elementary teacher for Galena Park ISD, until a couple of years later when they started having their own family: Jim, John, and Jane.

Chester went to law school - at night - but also worked full time, so Lou was able to be at home, raising their children, which she loved doing! When John had his first eye surgery at age 5, the surgeon recommended John learn to read when the eye patch was removed. This would help John learn to focus both eyes together. Lou taught him to read and he became her first student to teach reading from the letter A onward during her life-long pursuit to teach reading to children! Her children can recall getting to stop other activities (even chores) to enjoy the delivery of the newest Dr. Suess book with Lou. All three of the children became avid readers.

In 1965, Chester graduated from law school, passed the bar, and accepted a position with the Adams and Granberry Law Office in Crockett, Texas. The young family moved to Crockett (aka: “Paradise in the Pines”) to raise their children in this small town, which is located about halfway between both their families in Houston and the Dallas/McKinney metroplex.

With the children all in school now, Lou returned to teaching in Crockett in 1966 as one of the few white women working at a segregated school. Unhappy about the differences in educational standards she encountered there, she championed for equality in education for all students in Crockett ISD. Lou always saw the value and potential in her students and worked to see that the same educational opportunities were there for all students long before the Crockett schools were fully integrated. Lou knew gaining an education was vital to all children. She steadily worked to enable her students to be their best, earning her Masters of Education in Corrective Math and Reading from Stephen F. Austin University in the late 1960’s. Lou later taught remedial math and reading for Crockett ISD, as a specialist, to the end of her teaching career. She always loved reading and wanted all her students to feel the same.

In the 70’s, when Apple was a brand new company, promoting computers for school use, Lou was especially proud of single handedly figuring out how to set-up and run an Apple reading lab for her students. (PCs had not yet made their way into the private sector.) After the computers had been delivered to the school, not accepting the extended delay of the Apple trainer, Lou proceeded to set up the lab for the students, using the manual and teaching herself how to run the program. She had the students fully enrolled and using it well before the trainer eventually came to the school. That was a first for him! Most teachers (seasoned or not) were afraid of these “new things”, but Lou had dived right in and got it all going! He asked her how she could have known what to do, and she replied, “There was a manual, and I can READ, you know!”

After their son, Jim, passed away in 1975 from a long battle with cancer, Lou and Chester divorced the following year. Then, introduced by mutual friends, C.C. entered Lou’s life. She grew to love C.C. deeply, and they married in a quiet ceremony, at her home, in 1977 with their children and her mother in attendance. Lou’s mother, Mary Ackley, was happy to be there for this wedding and she and Jane made the wedding food, including the wedding cake. Lou and CC were a good fit for each other - both faithful, caring, honest, hard working, helpful, and kind to all.

C.C. had a major heart attack in 1985, requiring a quadruple bypass, so Lou retired early from teaching in June 1985. She wanted to be able to take care of C.C., and enjoy being a grandmother to their rapidly growing family.

They so appreciated having been blessed with his recovery to have more time to enjoy their lives together and wanted to spend that time with their families and friends and making new friends - RVing!

Once Lou and C.C. started RVing, they were hooked! They loved traveling in their RVs (they had 15 different ones over the years) and they went to every state except Hawaii - because they reported, “RVs don’t float!” They were members of multiple travel clubs and loved going to rallies, meeting up with travel friends, and making new friends and learning new games, like Mexican Train, that they would then share with their family. In 2000, they moved from Crockett to Whitney to live in an RV community. Even when at home, they were with neighbors who also loved traveling across our great country and everyone’s stories and pictures were shared readily. They truly loved all their adventures together, as they traveled all over North America - with their cats!

Although longtime members of the Presbyterian Church, both in Crockett and then Whitney, when traveling for months at a time, Lou and CC carried on their faith together by having their own daily Bible reading and study. They lived their lives fully by the Golden Rule of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” They knew their lives were blessed and tried to share their gifts with others, be it helping others, writing letters and cards, or making things. Lou also crocheted afghans, children’s things - especially known for her darling baby booties - and crocheted many caps for cancer patients. Among his talents, C.C. was an excellent carpenter, (He built their first house!) and so they also made and sold or gave away wooden treasures such as horse swings, rocking horses, cradles, children’s furniture, and children's toys. C.C. did the woodworking and Lou did more of the fine detail work such as creating manes and ears for the horses, and staining and/or painting their projects.

After they stopped traveling, Lou and C.C. made the decision that a retirement center would suit them. They knew the retirement center would offer lots of opportunities to meet new friends. They especially loved the idea that someone else would do the cooking, cleaning, and that there would be no house or yard care to do! They spent their remaining years seeking out the perfect place to live during their more senior years of retirement. They were married 38 years, until C.C.’s death in 2015, when they lived at The Conservatory in Plano. As her eyesight was declining, in 2019, Lou moved to Parkview in Frisco, to be closer to Jane who lives nearby in Little Elm, and was teaching in Frisco then.

Lou is survived by her CHILDREN John Vernon Hines and his wife, Leslie; Jane Suzanne Hines Stewart; and Janise Marie Permenter; GRANDCHILDREN James Thomas Hines, and his wife, Katy; Stacey Marie Stewart Jordan and her husband, Wes; Arthur Anthony Stewart, Jr. and his fiancée, Elizabeth Moore; Brandi Denney Haltom and her husband, Elliott; and James Edwards and his wife, Ashley; GREAT GRANDCHILDREN Makenzie Jordan; Jacoby Jordan; Bethanie Jordan; Rosalie Jordan; Taylor Denney (Dalton) Moore; Skylar (Micah) Mumm; Dylan (Hunter) Denney; Ethan (Kaylyn) Haltom; Dylan (Hunter) Denney; and Riley Dearman; GREAT-GREAT GRANDCHILDREN Chase Mumm; Carter Mumm; Jaxon Dane Moore; Graycen Denney; Dawson Denney; Eli Haltom; Kohen Haltom; and Jameson Haltom; BROTHER William Laning Ackley and his wife Miriam; BROTHER-IN-LAW Danny Permenter and his wife, June; as well as many loving cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

The family will receive family and friends at a visitation, an Evening of Remembrance, on Friday, March 4, 2022 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Allen Family Funeral Options; 2112 W. Spring Creek Pkwy.; Plano, TX 75023. Masks are optional.

A graveside service will be held Saturday, March 5th at 1:00 p.m. at the Glenwood Cemetery; 209 E. Pease Ave.; Crockett, TX 75835, Texas. Masks are optional.

In lieu of flowers, if desired, memorials may be made in Lou's name to the Salvation Army at www.salvationarmy.org or the Boy Scouts of America at https://www.scouting.org/ .