Mary Jo Wickliff's Obituary
Mary Jo Wickliff passed away Monday, August 12, 2024. She was born Mary Josephine to Byron and Nora Hamilton on April 17, 1934 in Ames, Iowa. She grew up in Ames, graduating from public schools and Iowa State College. The day after her graduation from Iowa State she married James Wickliff. She is survived by her children, David Wickliff and Diana Hicks, six grandchildren and her husband of 68 years, James Wickliff. She was preceded in death by her eldest son, Daniel. No memorial services for Mary Jo are planned.
Mary Jo was a math teacher first at the high school level and then at Iowa State. She, her husband and three young children moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1965. After raising her children to school age, she returned to college to earn a master’s degree in math from the University of Arkansas and later taught for several years as a lecturer in the mathematics department at the university.
Mary Jo was an accomplished homemaker. To her friends and family, she excelled as a bread and pie baker, employing many of the local fruits and berries—wild and farm grown. Her sewing projects were practical additions to the home. She was self-taught in the art of quilting and produced several quilts for her grandchildren and for home wall hangings. Mary Jo enjoyed being outdoors, gardening and hiking in the woods of NW Arkansas. Some years her yard was resplendent with spring and fall flowers many of which had been imported from the woodlands around Fayetteville. In later years her hiking became restricted to neighborhood walks during which her friendship with neighbors was reinforced. She will be greatly missed by friends and family.
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