Services will be at 11:00 A.M. on Friday, February 10, 2017 at the First Baptist Church with Erin Townsend Leaverton, granddaughter, Rev. Steve Olsen, pastor, and Rev. Gene Jones, associate pastor, officiating. The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 7:30 P.M. on Thursday, February 9, 2016 at Brooks Chapel. Burial will be in Dreamland Cemetery. Mary Louise Townsend went home to be with her Lord Jesus Christ on February 6, 2017. She was born in Wichita Falls, Texas on February 12, 1930, and spent her early years on the ranch and farm with her parents, Walter Herman Smith and Eula Mary Smith. Their home was located in Clay County north of Henrietta on the Stanfield Ranch. Mary attended a one-room school at the Stanfield Baptist Church, and often rode her pony, Barney, to school during the week, and to church on Sunday. After completing the sixth grade, she rode the school bus to Henrietta, a 50- mile round trip every day. In 1948, she graduated from Henrietta High School and enrolled at Midwestern State University. She also worked as the bookkeeper at Olsen-Seltzer Boot Company, and it was there she met the love of her life, Charles Bud Townsend. They married on April 9, 1950. They lived an interesting life; during the summers Charles announced rodeos all over the continental United States. They spent the remainder of the year gaining an education and rearing three children. Mary later attended Hardin-Simmons University, Texas Tech University, and ultimately West Texas State University where she received her Bachelor’s and Masters degrees. Mary taught first grade students at Rex Reeves Elementary School in Canyon for twenty-four years. She was a passionate and devoted teacher who loved her students, and pioneered new learning programs and strategies to enhance their education. After Mary and Charles retired, they traveled the world and enjoyed visiting many countries and learning about their cultures. They are members of the First Baptist Church in Canyon and, for many years, were active in the Palo Duro Church Ministry conducted every Sunday during the summer. Mary was preceded in death by a son, Charles Buddy Townsend, Jr. Survivors include her husband, Dr. Charles Townsend, to whom she was married for sixty-six years; her sister, Betty Hilgenfeld, of Andrews; her children, Dr. Bill Townsend and wife, Dr. Janet Townsend, of Canyon, Dr. Mary Townsend and husband, Dr. Michael Guttenplan, of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Cindy Townsend Aycock, surviving wife of Charles Buddy Townsend, Jr.; seven grandchildren; and eleven great-grandchildren. Memorials may be directed to the Charles R. and Mary Townsend Scholarship at West Texas A&M University, WTAMU Foundation, WTAMU Box 766, Canyon, Texas 79016-0001.