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Mary Amanda McMaster Flukinger
1947 – 2018
Mary Flukinger, age 70 of Hempstead, passed away on July 23, 2018. She was preceded in death by her parents, Mattie Passmore and Jim McMaster Jr. Mary is survived by husband, Dale Flukinger; daughters, Kathryn Flukinger-French and husband Lee, Sarah Hillman and husband Chad; sisters, Gail King and husband Ed Boles, Judith Clower and husband Richard; brother, Jim McMaster III and wife Betty; grandchildren, Aubrey Dale French, Isabella Louise Hillman, and Jackson Charles Hillman, as well as numerous other relatives and friends.
Visitation is set for Wednesday, July 25 from 5–7pm at Canon Funeral Home in Waller. Funeral services will be held Thursday, July 26 at 10am with Reverend Lee Borden officiating. Interment will follow at Shiloh Cemetery.
Mary Amanda McMaster Flukinger was born in a small hospital in Jasper, Texas on Tuesday, August 5, 1947, to Mattie Amanda Passmore and Jim Louis McMaster Jr. She died quietly at her home in Waller County, Texas on Monday morning, July 23, 2018.
After graduating from Jasper High School in 1969, Mary attended Stephen F. Austin University. She worked at Gibson's and as a leasing manager at an apartment complex while attending school. Through lifelong friends, she met and fell in love with Dale Flukinger while at SFA. They were married in 1971 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Jasper, and began their lives together in a small duplex in Waller, Texas. In 1973, Mary and Dale moved into their present home near the Shiloh community in Waller County.
Mary gave birth to her first daughter, Kathryn, in 1973 and to her youngest daughter, Sarah, in 1976. She worked on the farm with Dale, and outside the home in various roles through the years including that of substitute teacher for Waller ISD. She served as a member of the Vestry at Saint Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Hempstead, volunteered as a spiritual leader with The Mourner's Path grief program, and was a strong supporter of her grandchildren at their sporting and academic events.
Mary loved to sit on the porch on warm summer evenings and tell stories. And on Saturdays, one of her favorite activities was to call the grandkids in for their favorite breakfast—cinnamon toast for Aubrey, pancakes for Isabella, and bacon sandwiches for Jackson. She loved to fish, could not abide turtles, and believed the only good snake was a dead snake.
Mary was diagnosed with lung cancer in February, 2018. She fought bravely. She fought hard. She died quietly with her daughters by her side on Monday, July 23. Her passing leaves a void that cannot be filled. There is now silence in the space where her laughter lived. But, love endures forever. Love will never fade.