Obituary of Mary Jo Ard

Mary Jo Button Ard, wife of Dr. F. Michael Ard, mother of Dr. Michael Colin Ard and Cameron Carroll Ard died on Thursday July 22, 2010 in Tucson, Arizona at the Tucson Medical Center Hospice following a lengthy battle with breast cancer. Mary Jo was born in Columbus, Ohio on February 12, 1944 to Carroll Clarence Button and Marjorie Eult Button. She was raised in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Mary Jo earned a BME degree from Indiana University (1966), a Music Therapy degree from the University of Kansas (1970) and a M.S. degree in Special Education from Baylor University (1976). She was a Board Certified Music Therapist with the National Association for Music Therapy, Inc. On August 9, 1969 she married F. Michael Ard in Waco, Texas where her husband had accepted a teaching position in the Piano Department of Baylor University. They would remain in Waco while raising their two sons, Cameron and Colin, both of whom reside in San Diego, California. Colin works in statistics and data management as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurosciences of the University of California San Diego. Cameron is preparing to enter Engineering School. Following an adjunct teaching position in the Baylor University Music Education Department, Mary Jo accepted an appointment as Music Therapy Coordinator for the Waco Independent School District – a position she held with distinction for twenty five years. For her work, she was recognized as Outstanding School Coordinator for 1991-92. In 1995, she was able to secure a Clinical Training Site for Music Therapy Interns at WISD after her proposal was approved by the National Association for Music Therapy, Inc. She held her position until January 2001 when she and her husband retired from their prospective jobs and moved to Tucson, Arizona, a city they had grown to love years earlier while her husband pursued a DMA in piano at the University of Arizona. From January, 2001 until a short time before her death she continued her work as a Music Therapist with the State of Arizona and as an independent contractor. The commitment most dear to her for the past eleven years was her tireless dedication to ending the persecution by the government of China of the spiritual cultivation practice, Falun Gong (also know as Falun Dafa). Her efforts on behalf of fellow practitioners, who follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, took her throughout the country to centers of state and national government where she presented the dilemma engulfing a peaceful meditation practice and raising awareness in this country of the little known or understood persecution. To quote the mother of one of the children with whom she worked as a music therapist, “Your pervasive generosity and genuine compassion toward others, particularly those who are unjustly marginalized and deprived of basic human dignity, have been nothing short of an inspiration to me.” This is the story of a beautiful human being. She will be missed by all who knew her presence. In addition to her husband and children, Mary Jo is survived by two brothers, Delbert and John Button, and two sisters, Jeanne Eaton and Judy Louis. The following non-profit organizations important in Mary Jo’s life are suggested to those who wish to make a tax-deductible donation in her memory: Hospice Fund of Tucson Medical Center Foundation 5301 Grant Road Tucson, AZ 85712 (520) 324-2438 Check or money order payable to Friends of Falun Gong USA Mail to: Friends of Falun Gong USA 24 W. Railroad Ave. PMB # 124 Tenefly, NJ 07670