Mary Frances Maestri Vaughan's Obituary
Mary Frances Maestri Vaughan 97, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, passed away on April 16, 2025. She was born on October 30, 1927 in Tontitown, Arkansas to Albano C. Maestri and Agnes Caroline Pierce Maestri. She was the sixth of nine children in a family that included four daughters and five sons. Her father, Albano, was born in the village of Zocca, Emilia Romagna, Italy in 1890. Her mother, Agnes Caroline, was born in Hunnawell, Missouri in 1894.
Mary was a devout Catholic all her life. She and her siblings attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Tontitown. The St. Joseph Catholic Church was near the family home; one of Mary’s earliest memories was sitting on the kitchen counter while her mother cooked, listening to the Church bells. While working outdoors, she would hear the noon Church bells, which signaled that it was time to pause and say the Angelus, a prayer recited in honor of the Incarnation of God.
At age 14, Mary left Tontitown to attend Holy Family High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she graduated in 1946. While a high school student, she worked at S.H. Kress & Company. She also worked nights at three of Tulsa’s movie palaces. This was during WWII, and young women were hired as ushers instead of young men who were being drafted into the military. Although Mary was a year too young to be hired, she lied about her age and was soon wearing the coveted usher uniform of a red and white striped silk blouse, covered by a navy blue pinafore that came below her knees. She enjoyed being an usher and saw every movie that came to the theaters.
After she graduated from high school, Mary returned to live in Springdale. Initially, she worked at the lunch counter at Dodson’s Five and Ten Dime Store, and then at the Hitching Post Restaurant. She was offered a job at First National Bank, but she wasn’t sure she should take it, as she planned to move to California to be with friends.
However, fate intervened, and Mary went on a date with Bruce C. Vaughan on February 13, 1947 (the day before Valentine’s Day). After their first date, Bruce sent Mary a dozen red roses and a Parker 51 fountain pen with the note, “Don’t go to California. Take the job at the Bank.”
A few days later, as Mary and her mother walked to St. Joseph’s Church for Sunday mass, she said, “Mother, I had a date with the man I’m going to marry, he just doesn’t know it yet.” Mary began working at Springdale’s First National Bank on March 1, 1947. Bruce and Mary were married on December 15, 1947 in Tontitown; their marriage lasted for 65 years, until Bruce died on January 6, 2013. They had three children: Michael Bruce, Patrick Lee, and Sandy Melissa.
Mary and Bruce called themselves hip-pocket-merchants, and operated several businesses in Springdale for four decades. For 20 years, they operated an electronic and photography business on Highway 71 (Thompson Avenue). In the early 1970s, they bought the old Lichlyter building on Emma; together, they opened Image One Studio, which they operated as an art gallery, frame shop, and studio for more than a decade. Their Springdale home also included a photography studio and darkroom. Mary was a professional photographer and photographed countless children, families, weddings and businesses. She won numerous awards for her photography, and she continued to work as a professional photographer after Bruce retired. In retirement, Mary and Bruce made many trips to the desert southwest, and their favorite spots included Monument Valley, Arches National Park and Moab, Utah. Mary had a passion for the history of Tontitown. The story of Father Bandini was very dear to her, and she worked to keep that tale alive. She was a founding member of the Tontitown Preservation Society and the Historical Museum Board, along with her brother, Frank Maestri. She was a key contributor to the book, “So Big, This Little Place”, the historical account of the first 20 years of Tontitown. Mary regularly volunteered her time well into her 90s at the Tontitown Historical Museum and the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.
Mary and Bruce lived in a home on Maple Drive in Springdale for more than 60 years. Mary loved people, and she cherished her friendships. She was a member of St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Springdale since its inception. She taught Catechism for more than three decades and was a member and former president of the Altar Society. Mary’s abiding Catholic faith sustained her all her life. She had a plaque on her kitchen wall that said, “When you die, God will either teach you to walk on air or He will teach you to fly.”
Mary is survived by son Michael (wife Kathleen Lukken), son Patrick (wife Miyuki), and daughter Sandy (husband Tom Simmons). She is also survived by three granddaughters: Ashley Carlson (husband Jess), Katelyn Brown (husband Dale), and Tabitha Vaughan; and two grandsons: Andrew Simmons (wife Abby), and Harvey Vaughan. In addition, Mary has seven great-grandchildren: Clay Carlson, Crosby Carlson, Chip Carlson, Catherine Carlson, Pierce Brown, Ruby Kate Brown and Theodore William Brown.
Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Bruce C. Vaughan; her brothers Floyd Maestri, Stephen Maestri, Paul Maestri, Frank Maestri, and Leslie “Red” Maestri; and her sisters Grace Maestri Wade, Genevieve Maestri Bean, and Lavinia Maestri Zulpo.
Visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 22, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tontitown. The funeral mass will follow at 11:00 a.m. also at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tontitown, with Father Balaraju Akkala officiating. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in Tontitown.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Tontitown Historical Museum, PO Box 144, Tontitown, AR 72770 or the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, 118 W. Johnson Avenue, Springdale, AR 72764.
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