Mary Lanum Carneal's Obituary
Mary Carneal, born February 20, 1924 in Dallas Texas to Sigrid Magnusson Lanum and Ben William Lanum. Mary met the love of her life, Virgil Eugene Carneal and was soon married before he was sent to defend our Country in the European Theatre. While working as a navigator on a bomber he was shot down and captured. He spent the remainder of the war as a POW. Mary was unsure if he was alive or dead for most of his time over there. Upon returning to Mary at the end of the war, they settled in Dallas TX where they raised two daughters Mary Gail and Susan . At the age of 41, Virgil lost his battle with cancer. Mary went back to school at SMU and earned her Master’s Degree in Education. She Started her own tutoring business and specialized in children with learning disabilities. She retired and began to travel the world, she had many great adventures in China, Europe, South America and Australia. After her travels she settled in Plano Texas and joined the Red Hat Honeys of the Plano Senior Center. Soon she was elected as the Queen MUM and organized many events and outings for the group. She worked at that until she was 85 years of age and decided it was time to relax. She loved to shop and walk the Collin Creek Mall in Plano, TX. She met many good friends at Collin Creek Mall and spent many hours “solving the problems of the world” with them. She looked forward to every September as the State Fair of Texas arrived. In 2015 she went twice and always loved looking at every booth and every new car at the fair, especially the red ones. Mary passed peacefully in her sleep on July 20, 2016 and is now walking the mall with her Love, Virgil, her Mom and Dad and her daughter Susan whom all preceded her in death. Family will receive friends on Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 2:00PM followed by a service at 3:00PM in The Abbey Chapel at Restland Funeral Home. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243.
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