Mary Kay Snell

Mary Kay Snell, 88, of Amarillo, TX passed away August 24, 2024.

Funeral services will be held at Polk Street Methodist Church of Amarillo at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, August 31, 2024, presided by Rev. Lesly Broadbent and Rev. Katie Hill. The graveside service will be held at the Shamrock Cemetery at 1:00 P.M. Arrangements are by Boxwell Brothers Funeral Directors. 

Mary Kay was born on August 13, 1936, in Sayre, Oklahoma to Ernestine Elizabeth and William Franklin Holmes. She married Virgil Lee Snell, November 25, 1955, in Shamrock, Texas. Mary Kay served as the Director of the Amarillo Public Library from 1982 until her retirement in 1998.

She grew up in Shamrock, Texas and graduated from The Hockaday School of Dallas in 1954. She entered Texas Technological College where she met and married Virgil Lee Snell of Shamrock.

In 1975, she achieved a Masters Degree in Library Science from the University of Texas at Austin.

After the death of Virgil in 1976, she moved to Amarillo and began work as the Reference Librarian at the Amarillo Public Library. She served as the Director of the Amarillo Public Libraries until her retirement in 1998. During her time at the library, Mary Kay worked to automate and integrate the Texas Panhandle area libraries, as part of the Texas Panhandle Library System. During her life, Mary Kay developed an interest in genealogy and compiled many family histories. In 1989 she and Lois Nix published "Thomas Boone Pickens - His Ancestors", a complete family history.

Mary Kay was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Pi Beta Phi Sorority, P.E.O. Sisterhood, Daughter's of the American Revolution, Texas State Genealogical Society, American Library Association, Texas Library Association, Director, Texas Panhandle Library System, Chairman, Harrington Library Consortium, and she was president of Texas Municipal Library Directors Association 1986-1987. She was a member of Polk Street Methodist Church and the Aldersgate Sunday School Class.

Mary Kay is proceeded in death by her husband, Virgil L. Snell; father, William F. "Billy" Holmes; mother, Ernestine E. "Tena" Holmes; and sister, Janice Ruth Baxter. 

She is survived by her son, Benjamin F. Snell and wife Dawnette of Canyon, TX; daughter Katherine Elizabeth "Beth" Snell Haddix and husband Martin of Amarillo, TX; grandchildren, Matthew W. Snell of Gardner, KS, and Katelyn E. Snell of Canyon, TX; sister, Julia Henderson of Shamrock, TX; and her dear friend, John Birchfield of Amarillo, TX.

The family suggests in lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Polk Street Methodist Church at 1401 S Polk St, Amarillo, TX 79101.