Ricky Therneau

Mary Ann (Ricky) Therneau, of San Antonio, passed away Friday, November 6, 2020, at age 76.

Graveside services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, November 14, 2020 at Cobb Cemetery, with Pastor Jon Honea officiating.

Ricky was born on November 27, 1943 in Enid, Oklahoma to Mary C. (Webb) Hyden and Richard Howard. Richard was killed in WW2, and Mary “Cappie” Hyden married Rex F. Hyden, who legally adopted Ricky.  Ricky grew up in South and East Texas where her dad worked in the oil field. After graduating from Pine Tree High School, Ricky attended Texas Christian University.

She left school to marry Jack Lawrence in September of 1963. She had one daughter, Deneece, born on June 30, 1964.  Ricky and Jack lived in Weatherford for a while and then she moved in with her parents in Kilgore, where she completed her degree at Stephen F. Austin University and attended some graduate level courses.   Mr. Lawrence passed away a few years after they were divorced.  

Ricky married the love of her life, Donald Ray Therneau on March 28, 1969.  They made their home in Kilgore until 1992, and then moved to Lincoln, Arkansas; and then moved again in 1998 to San Antonio.

In Kilgore, Ricky worked in marketing at the Kilgore News Herald, as a nursing home activity director, as director of a Senior Center, and at the United States Post Office as a rural route carrier. When they moved to Arkansas, Ricky was a teacher.  In San Antonio, she was a development director first and then teacher at several private schools.  Ricky’s favorite of all her jobs was being a church organist. Throughout her life, she almost always held a job as a church organist.  She played at churches such as Danville Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church in Kilgore, St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Longview, a Catholic Church in Arkansas, St. Francis Episcopal Church in Canyon Lake, TX, Shepherd King Episcopal Church in San Antonio, and other churches in the San Antonio area. She was a devout Christian and relished her job as a church organist. She taught piano lessons for many years in Kilgore and in Lincoln.  

Ricky was very proud of telling everyone about how she showed great promise for a musician at a young age, but her mother would not allow her to be taken to a conservatory to study.  She grew up in the Disciples of Christ faith and then usually attended services where she played organ.  When she was playing organ for St. Mary’s Catholic Church, she felt a calling to convert to Catholicism and did so. She kept her membership at First Christian Church in Kilgore.  She moved her membership to First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln so that she could be the Vice Moderator of the Presbyterian Women’s Association for the Arkansas Presbyterian. She remained Catholic at the time of her death, though she frequently attended other services for long periods of time due to her jobs as a church organist.

Ricky was also an avid bridge player. After she retired from full-time employment, she could be found most weekdays at a bridge game.  She also enjoyed flower arranging and reading.  She had entire rooms full of nothing but books. She enjoyed old movies like Gone with the Wind and Casablanca.  Every Saturday, you could find her watching football and yelling for her two favorite teams, the TCU Horn Frogs and the OU Sooners. During the spring, you could find her watching her beloved Yankees.

Ricky was preceded in death by her mother, Mary “Cappie” Hyden, her biological father, Richard Howard, and her father, Rex F. Hyden.

She is survived by her husband, Don Therneau of San Antonio, daughter and son-law, Deneece and Bobby Ferrales of Waco; and granddaughter, Angel Ferrales, who attends college at Southwestern University in Georgetown.  She is also survived by her two younger sisters, Janeece Bolton of Groesbeck and Bonnie Winstead of Longview; niece, Megan Bolton of Groesbeck and nephew, Rex Bolton of New Mexico, and great nieces and nephews, Thomas Bolton, Ethan Bolton, Luke Bolton, Kaia Bolton all of New Mexico and Logan Graham of Groesbeck.  She is also survived by her nephew Cody Winstead of Tyler, niece Misty Cantrell of Houston, and niece Jennifer Winstead of Longview; and great nieces and nephews Aerial Cantrell of Dallas, Cade Cantrell of Houston, Connor Cantrell of Houston, and Colton Smith of Longview.  She is also survived by two brothers-in-law, David Therneau of Lincoln, Arkansas and Owen Therneau of Longview, TX, and a sister-in-law, Wanda Dalke of Tulsa, Oklahoma.