Mary Rosenfield

Mary Ann was born in Kankakee, IL on September 30, 1936, to Dan Sanborn and Elenor Harding Sanborn. The family moved to McAllen, TX in 1947 where she was raised. She was the second of four children. Mary Ann died on September 18, 2021, after a four-year travail with a deadly disease-cancer. My Kapa Alpha Theta “cutie pie” latched onto the tail of her kite and soared to the boundless meadow where she was greeted by countless rescued dogs, cats, chickens, and songbirds that she loved and cared for…all saying “here she comes, here she comes Mommy Ann. Together they crossed the rainbow bridge to enter Heaven.

Mary Ann earned a B.A. degree in English literature from the University of Texas at Austin in 1957. She was a person of many interests and spent a large part of her time reading. She often said that she was a  Bell Curve Model enthusiast. Her many interests included vintage Italian and English sports cars, English motorcycles, firearms, and pyrotechnics. Mary Ann held a federal firearms manufacturer license and enjoyed collecting and shooting machine guns. Her work in pyrotechnics was in production of large public displays as well as amateur rochet making. She was much admired for the rockets that she made as well as for her talent in instruction of the art. She was also an N.R.A. certified firearms instructor.

Mary Ann was active in the “Saving the Driskill” in 1972 and an original member of radio station KMFA in 1975 as well as a member of the Austin Heritage Society. In 1975, she purchased the Eugene Bremond House at 404 W. 7th St. and initiated the restoration program. She lived in the house thru 1984 while the initial work of stabilizing the house and restoration was being done by the W.D. & R. Carpentry Company. One of her enterprises- Sanborn Old House Services, rehabilitated several old buildings in Central West Austin and Clarksville. In her working career out of college, she managed the Sanborn Travel & Insurance branch Office in Laredo, Texas. Following that, she was a “first generation” member of Tracor (1963-1968). She left Tracor to rejoin the family business as CEO of Sanborn Travel & Insurance, at that time opening several offices in Austin. Sanborn Shooter (FFL-machinegun manufacturer) and Dazzling Fireworks as well as Sanborn Old House Services all brought her pleasure, satisfaction, and occasionally a little profit. She had lived in our place, The Lazy MAS, south of Smithville for 36 years up until her last days. We moved here out of central Austin in 1984 when we agreed that Austin is too crowded for us!

Surviving Mary Ann is her husband of 40 years, Dave Rosenfield of Smithville, TX; and her brother, William H. Sanborn and his wife, Mildred of McAllen, TX; as well as several cousins, nieces, and nephews that you would not know anyway. On or about May 13, 2022, there will be a Day of Remembering Mary Ann. Please visit www.marrs-jonesfuneralhome.com for more details.