Mary Alice Ridenour

Mary Alice Joines was born in Palmer, Texas, on October 9, 1936, to Leonard Melvy Joines and Alice Lorraine (Hurst) Joines. She peacefully went to be with her Lord and Savior on Monday, March 11, 2024, in Rowlett, Texas, at the age of 87, surrounded by family members. She is home again with her mother, father, and sister.

Mary Alice spent the first 14 years of her life in Forney, Texas where her father was the pastor of First Baptist Church. After two years at Judson Baptist Church in Cayuga, her father became the pastor of Second Baptist Church in Dallas. Mary Alice went to Forest Avenue High School in Dallas where she was active in basketball, tennis, choir, and musicals.

Mary Alice and her sister Kathleen played together in piano recitals, played at church for their father, and sometimes Mary Alice played the church organ.

She met Robert Stanley Ridenour in high school, and they married on November 18, 1955, in Dallas, Texas, and were married for 68 years. They were the parents of three boys: Dale, Paul, and David.

Mary Alice and her husband taught 10th grade Sunday School at East Grand Baptist Church for many years. She also sang in the church choir. Later in her life she would sing in the choir at First Baptist Church in Rockwall.

When she was in her forties, she took classical guitar lessons from Enric Madriguera at Eastfield College. She began working at the law firm of Allen, Knutts, and Castle before becoming the receptionist at the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, where her coworkers affectionately referred to her as "Mary Alice, the Voice of Dallas." She later retired at age 74.

Mary Alice loved to take road trips with her sister to see bluebonnets and bald eagles. She enjoyed creating art, water skiing, and numerous family snow skiing trips over the years. She also loved animals and had numerous rabbits and cats and raised monarch butterflies in her kitchen.

Mary Alice gave her boys some good advice. She would often say, "Never say never," "Money, it's only numbers," "You can't always get what you want," and "Don't be afraid to ask. All they can do is say no."

Mary Alice was a prayer warrior who prayed for her sons every time they left for school and work, and then later on for their wives, and then her grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Melvy and Alice Joines; her sister, Kathleen Joines Graves; and her great nephew, Aaron Anderson.

She is survived by her husband, Robert Ridenour; sons, Dale Ridenour and wife Deborah, Paul Ridenour and wife Dottie, David Ridenour and wife Sharon; grandsons, Rusty Ridenour and wife Ashlynn, Matthew Ridenour, Grant Ridenour and wife Jacque, Calvin Ridenour and wife Chloe; granddaughter, London Ridenour Matter and husband Dawson; nieces, Mary Lynn Graves-Anderson, and Kathy Graves Burns and husband Rob; great-nieces, Amanda Anderson, and Samantha Burns; great-nephew, Matthew Burns; and 2nd great-niece, Erin Anderson.

Mary Alice will be buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Forney, Texas next to her uncle Jimmy Joines, her parents, and her grandparents.