Mary Bess Mulhollan

Mary Bess Mulhollan, age 84, passed peacefully surrounded by family on September 30, 2019 in Springdale, Arkansas. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 1, 1935 to James (Jack) Flack and Bess Scott Flack, Mary Bess became an accomplished ceramicist, committed naturalist, and avid birder. But Mary Bess was most importantly a beloved wife, mother and grandmother. A dedicated volunteer throughout her adult life, her volunteer work included the (President) Lyndon B. Johnson summer program for underprivileged preschool children in the Ozarks; she served on the Board of Trustees of the Desert Botanical Garden and as the first president of the Friends of the Garden volunteer organization while in Arizona; she served on the Board of Trustees for the Dayton Philharmonic Women's Association, the Wegerzyn Garden Center and the Miami (Ohio) Valley Arts Council while in Ohio; she volunteered at Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge and was active with the Hilton Head Audubon Society while living in South Carolina; and upon her return to Fayetteville, Mary Bess became heavily involved with the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society and the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. In 2016 Mary Bess was a recipient of the Washington County (AR) Women in History award. Although she and her husband lived in several states and traveled internationally, she always considered northwest Arkansas her home base. Most summers they returned to their cabin on Beaver Lake where Mary Bess first developed her interest in identifying and photographing wildflowers, birds and butterflies. Her life-long dedication to nature culminated when she and her husband helped sponsor the Ozark Native Garden and the Butterfly Garden at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, and the subsequent construction of the Mulhollan Waterfowl Blind on Lake Fayetteville. Mary Bess is survived by son, Paige E. Mulhollan Jr. and wife Marilyn of Fayetteville; son, Kelly Mulhollan and wife Donna of Fayetteville; three granddaughters, Shannon (Nathan) Little of Cave Springs, Ryan Nicole (Steve) Dotson of Fayetteville, and Kaitlyn (Nicholas) Fondano of Springdale; and great-granddaughters, Emerson and Sailor Little and Elliott (Ellie) Dotson. She is preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Dr. Paige E. Mulhollan, her parents and her brother, Dr. James Flack Jr. Private services are planned. A public celebration of her life will be held Wednesday, October 16 at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Light dessert will be served. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, P.O. Box 10407, Fayetteville, Ark. 72703 or www.bgozarks.org. To place an online tribute, visit www.nelsonberna.com.