Mary Jo Newlin Kreie

Mary Jo Newlin Kreie died on Feb. 19, 2015, at the age of 86 at La Posada Assisted Living in Las Cruces. Mary Jo was born in Cherokee, Okla., on Jan. 31, 1929, to Grover and Beulah Newlin. She spent the first eight years of her life in western Kansas during the early years of the Depression and the Dust Bowl. Later in life Mary Jo wrote a poem called "The Dust Bowl Child" about her childhood memories of those years. Late in the 1930s her family left Kansas for a small farm near West Fork, Ark. For Mary Jo, Arkansas became home except for a few brief periods. As a young adult she returned to Kansas for a short time, where she met her husband and friend-for-life, Jack. She lived in California with Jack when he was recalled to the Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict. Next, her young family spent about six years in Wyoming where Jack taught after graduating from the University of Colorado. From the late 1950s until 2006 Mary Jo and her husband lived in northwest Arkansas. During the last 20 years in Arkansas they lived on a lovely farm near Devils Den State Park where Mary Jo often wielded a chainsaw, cutting the firewood for their home's wood-burning furnace, and honed her skill as a morel mushroom hunter. In 2006 they moved to Las Cruces, N.M., to be near their daughter Jennifer Kreie. (See Mary Jo read her poem on YouTube by searching for: Mary Jo Kreie Dust Bowl Child.) Mary Jo's career paralleled the advancement of women's rights in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. She returned to work when her four children were in school and she was in her early-30s. This was during a time when many people felt women should not work outside the home. Mary Jo's work ethic, professionalism and sense of humor overcame many obstacles during her career. She became a certified professional secretary and helped form the first professional secretaries association in northwest Arkansas in the early 1970s. She was the first woman promoted to management at the Standard Register plant in Fayetteville and was manager of purchasing then quality control. When Mary Jo retired in 1990 she helped care for some siblings and other family members who were quite ill and she joined the Humane Society of the Ozarks where she served as president for five years. She was an avid racquetball and tennis player and she participated in the Senior Olympics at the state and national level. She also played bridge with the same group of friends for almost 30 years. She and her husband shared a love for learning and traveling and enjoyed many educational trips through Elder Hostel (now Road Scholars). Mary Jo is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Wade and Necole Kreie of Little Rock, Ark.; daughter and son-in-law, Deborah and Robert Camacho of Springfield, Tenn.; daughter, Jennifer Kreie of Las Cruces, N.M.; daughter, Beverly Kreie, also of New Mexico, and her "adopted" sons, Kenny Bloss of Springdale, Ark., and Chien Tung of Austin, Texas. She has five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, including Aria who came into the world the day before Mary Jo left. Mary Jo will be brought back to Arkansas this coming weekend to be beside her husband of 65 years in the Friendship Community Church Cemetery near West Fork. There will be a memorial celebration of Mary Jo's life in West Fork on May 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the pavilion in Riverside Park by the White River. This is an informal gathering of family and friends. Food will be provided. For additional information, please contact Jennifer Kreie at 575-571-0300.