Marion Luken Gary

Longtime Prescott resident, Marion Luken Gary, 95,  passed away at her home in Prescott, Arizona, on August 27, 2016.  She was born in Cranbury, N.J. on August 19, 1921. Marion graduated from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. with a nursing degree, then served as a Navy nurse during World War II.  After the war, in 1948, she married William A. Gary, a Marine Captain she met at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and they went into ranching in Texas.  In 1958 they moved to Walnut Grove, Ariz., where they ranched and she taught at the one-room school there.   The family moved back to Harlingen, Texas in 1965 when W.A. Gary founded the Marine Military Academy, a college preparatory school based on the Marine Corps.  After receiving her degree in library science from the University of Texas, Marion became the school's first librarian.  The school later dedicated the Marion L. Gary Learning Center to her for her work in establishing the library. In 1967, the Gary's returned to ranching in the Prescott area, where they remained until the end of their lives.  Both were instrumental in establishing the Bill and Marion Gary Western Heritage Gallery at the Phippen Museum of Western Art. Marion was preceded in death by her husband, and son, William A. Gary, Jr.  She is survived by her daughter, Kathy McCraine, and her husband, Swayze. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in her memory to the Marine Military Academy, 310 Iwo Jima Blvd., Harlingen, Texas 78550