Services for Mary Ethel (Collins) Polvadore, 85, of Houston, Texas, will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, April 30, 2023 and the Cochran Funeral Home Chapel in Livingston, Texas with Bro. Mitchell Murphy officiating. Interment will follow at the Bluff Creek Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 1:00-2:00 Sunday the 30th, prior to service.

Mary was born February 4, 1938 in Camp Ruby, Polk County, Texas, to parents, Sill Estol Collins and Ruth Cornelia (Walker) Collins and passed away April 24, 2023 in Houston. She is preceded by her parents; husband, Buford Polvadore; sons, Tony and Gary; brother, David Collins; and sister, Gaynell Mitchell.

She is survived by her daughter, Kathy Tickle and husband Roger of Cypress, Texas; brother, Leland Collins of Baytown, Texas; and sister-in-law, Becky Collins of New Ulm, Texas.

Mary grew up in East Texas and ended up in Livingston. She graduated from Big Sandy High School in 1956. She married the love of her life, Buford Polvadore, in 1960 and moved to Houston, TX where they started their family. They were blessed with 3 children – Tony, Gary and Kathy. After raising her children she attended college and achieved her Bachelor's in Education and became a Teacher. She worked for the Galena Park ISD at North Shore Middle School and taught Reading as this was her passion. She was a teacher for 20 years and was quite an inspiration to many children.

In her retirement, she enjoyed spending time with her family. They had a love of the outdoors including fishing, camping, hunting and especially traveling. Mary had a great passion for adventure. She loved to explore new places such as traveling down roads just to see where they would take her. Roadtrips were always her favorite way to travel. Mary's sense of adventure and her keen ability to make learning fun was what made her such a wonderful and talented teacher and Mother. She is very much loved and will definitely be missed!

Pallbearers: Roger Tickle Jr., David Tickle, Charlie Cox, Brandon Blount, Bobby Ledet, Blake Ledet.