Mary (Higginson) Desaulniers |
| Posted 2016-12-04 by Judy Wight Branson |
| Camp Verde Bugle, Camp Verde, Arizona Saturday, November 19, 2016 Mary Higginson Desaulniers, age 93, passed away peacefully on November 14, 2016. Mary was born June 23, 1923 in Great Harwood, Lancashire, England to Richard and Clara (Mercer) Higginson. She was a descendant of John Mercer, the inventor of the Mercerization process for cotton thread, which revolutionized the textile industry. Mary came to America at age 5, but returned to England until she was 11. There she enjoyed the countryside, the gypsies and her grandmother’s toy shop. When she returned to America she lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts and graduated from New Bedford High School with a business diploma. She also met a young Frenchman, Charles Desaulniers, whose father owned the newspaper, Le Messager. Their families were quite different. At age 20, when Charlie was in the Army, Mary moved to NYC where she worked for American Airlines, in Hattie Carnegie’s dress shop and replaced Lauren Bacall at the Essex Hotel. She loved the big city life. She married Charlie and they moved to Sunnydale, Queens, where they had two children, Christine (Boundurant) and Richard. She began to work for Elizabeth Arden in NY, but every holiday was spent in New Bedford and every summer on Cape Cod. In 1956, the family moved to Princeton, NJ. Charlie was employed by U.S. Steel and Mary was with Management Planning, but by 1958 they moved to Phoenix and in ’59 they made the short move to the then small town of Scottsdale. For 25 years Mary worked at Elizabeth Arden’s Maine Chance, which was a beauty resort for the rich and famous on Camelback Mountain. She had the difficult job of scheduling 30 clients with 30 operators and teachers for their week long stays. She was very sharp and did her best to please everyone (without the use of a computer). Green Garson even wrote a song about her. When Charlie retired from Bechtel Corp. they left the growing Valley of the Sun for little Palm Springs where they enjoyed traveling to Mexico and running a small jewelry business at the College of the Desert. Mary lost the love of her life and her protector in 2001 and in 2007 moved to Cottonwood to be near her daughter. Throughout her life Mary greatly appreciated the wonders of nature and the delight of children. She loved the ocean, cooking, reading biographies, parties, singing, dogs and following the pursuits of each family member. She was witty, wise and kind with smiling big blue eyes. She is survived by her daughter Christine Bondurant (Monty) and her son Richard Desaulniers (Carol) of Charleston, SC, her four grandchildren Richard Cornwall, Becky Reinig, Paul Desaulniers and Maryann Scaccia and eight great grandchildren. All will miss her so very much. Mary was preceded in death by her husband Charlie, her parents Richard and Clara, and her brothers Benny and Arthur. Her service and burial on November 26 will be with Forest Lawn Mortuary and Desert Memorial Cemetery in Cathedral City, CA. Donations may be made through Hospice of the Pines at hopeandcarefoundation.org. Information provided by survivors. |
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