Mary Kay (Gray) Bousquet

Mary Kay (Gray) Bousquet completed her work here on earth and entered her eternal life with her Lord, Jesus, on January 30, 2026. She was born on May 1, 1940 in La Grande, Oregon to parents Lawrence and Edna Gray. Mary resided in La Grande, Huntington and Pendleton before moving to Hermiston. She participated in tennis, softball and basketball graduating from Hermiston High School in 1958. Mary maintained lifelong friendships with several female classmates known as “The Divas” who met monthly for lunch. After graduating from high school, she attended Eastern Oregon College pursuing a degree in education. Upon graduating from college, Mary married William “Bill” Howard Bousquet on August 25, 1962 at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Hermiston. Due to Bill being in the Navy, the young couple traveled to San Diego, Hawaii and Seattle. Their first child, Karen, was born in 1964 followed by Mark in 1966 both in Long Beach, CA. The family moved to Hawaii, Georgia and then Seattle, WA where son Matthew “Matt” was born in 1968. 
The family eventually moved back to Hermiston in the early 1970’s where Mary began her over thirty-year career with the Hermiston School District at Armand Larvie Junior High School as a special education teacher. Mary continued her training at Western Oregon State College during summers. High points of her long commitment to serving special needs students included initiating a Special Olympics program in 1979 that has grown into a multi-sport organization involving over one hundred athletes. Mary was truly gifted in working with this specific student population. She was well respected by her colleagues. All of the assistants that worked with Mary felt valued and well trained. 
In addition to being a Special Olympics coach for decades, and receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from Special Olymipcs Oregon, Mary was also a Catholic Daughter for almost fifty years.
Following retirement in 2003, Mary continued to reach out to those in need by serving as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in foster care for seventeen years. Mary, along with good friend and colleague, Chris Hull, attended almost every school board meeting and multiple sporting events when this dynamic duo were not traveling to Alaska, Germany, the Panama Canal and Canada (to name a few destinations). 
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, infant brother Lawrence, sister Patricia, husband William, daughter Karen, and son Matthew. She is survived by son Mark (Sonda), son-in-law John, grandchildren Christina (Bobby) Wright, John (Courtney) Connell, Jarett Bousquet, great-grand children Courtney, Caitlyn and Caleb. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 am on February 10 at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church preceded by the Rosary at 10 am. Burial will be at the Hermiston Cemetery with a luncheon at the parish hall following the internment. Memorial contributions can be made to either: Catholic Daughters of the Americas or Special Olympics #510 (to support the local program) and mailed to: Burns Mortuary, P.O. Box 289, Hermiston, OR 97838. 

Please share memories of Mary with her family at burnsmortuaryhermiston.com

Burns Mortuary of Hermiston, Oregon is in care of arrangements.

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