Mary Tarver Koehn

Mary Tarver Koehn, 81, of Flower Mound, Texas, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2023. She was surrounded by her family and will be missed beyond measure.

Mary was born on Aug. 28, 1941, to James E. Stevenson, Jr. and Mary Cage “Kitty” Stevenson in Shreveport, La. After Mary graduated from high school in Blytheville, she went on to study art at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

While attending SMU, Mary met her husband, Dick Koehn. Mary was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, and Dick was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. They made lifelong friendships and many wonderful memories while dating in college. Following graduation, they married and moved to Memphis, Tenn., where Mary pursued her love for art and playing the guitar. While living in Memphis, they had two daughters, Kitty and Kim.

Dick’s career with New York Life provided Mary and the girls with many adventures. They moved several times and lived in Greensboro, N.C., Jacksonville, Fla., Atlanta, Ga., Fairfield, Conn., and Charleston, S.C., before making it full circle back to Dallas. Mary flourished everywhere she lived. She taught art, guitar, and mastered woodcarving and heraldry. A highlight of her career was being asked to produce a large wood carving of The White House. When the carving was complete, the President arranged for Mary and her family to fly to Washington, D.C., for an official presentation. Her other carvings, as well as her original paintings, can be found in the homes of family and friends across the U.S.

In 2001, Dick and Mary retired to a lovely beach front home in Gulf Shores, Ala. They were active members in the Gulf Shores United Methodist Church. Dick and Mary’s legacy for the church included the design and installation of the Gulf Shores UMC Prayer Labyrinth. Mary had visited Chartres Cathedral located on the outskirts of Paris, France and was inspired not only to recapture its magnificence on canvas, but she also wanted her community in Gulf Shores to experience Chartres’s “prayer-walk” labyrinth and rich Christian history.

From her studio on her enclosed balcony overlooking the beach, Mary expressed her love for her family through her paintings of her grandchildren. She placed them in playful beach settings along the Gulf Coast. The joy of her art was contagious, and she touched many lives with her original works and prints. When asked why she signed each piece as “Baby T”, Mary would laugh and reply, “My grandson began calling me Baby T when he was two years old, and it stuck…like paint!”

Like her art, Mary’s gracious manner and generous care for others will be treasured forever. Shortly before Dick’s passing, they returned to Flower Mound, Texas, to live near Kim and her family. Mary spent her final years living at Pinewood Hills in Flower Mound, where she continued to flourish in life and love. Mary is survived by her brother, James E. “Steve” Stevenson III, daughters, Kathryn Virginia “Kitty” Muskat and Kimberly Koehn Crawford, and her grandchildren, Kelly Kathryn Muskat, Conner Pierce Crawford and Kathryn Louise Crawford.

Visitation will be at Flower Mound Funeral Home at 3550 Firewheel Drive, Flower Mound, Texas 75028 on Friday evening, July 21, from 6-8 p.m. Please join us in celebrating Mary’s life on Saturday morning July 22, at 10 a.m. at Flower Mound Family Funeral Home.