Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Artist Mary Louise Lopez 

Mary Louise Lopez

Mary Louise Lopez lived an exceptional life. She was a dedicated elementary school teacher, a brilliant pianist, a seasoned world traveler, and a talented chef, but most of all, she was a gifted and prolific artist who left an indelible mark on the art community. 

According to Mary Louise’s close friend, who refers to Mary Louise as her “sister,” she suffered from chronic stomach trouble. She then began falling and often needed the help of the local fire department to lift her. After one difficult fall in 2022, a firefighter noticed her skin looked jaundiced and her stomach was distended, and he insisted she seek medical treatment immediately. At the hospital, doctors ran several tests and discovered a tumor in her pancreas. “It was a total shock to discover her condition because she didn’t realize she was sick. At 92 years old, there was no opportunity for her to get the help she needed,” her sister remembers.  

Mary Louise was a 21-year colon cancer survivor who had witnessed all three of her brothers die of cancer. And yet, in the face of her advanced pancreatic cancer diagnosis, she never wavered in her bravery or her determination to continue living her life to the fullest, and she insisted she wasn’t in any pain until just before she passed away.  

Several years prior to her pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Mary Louise’s sister encouraged her to give up her teaching career to exclusively pursue art professionally. They traveled together from their home/art studio in San Antonio to Mexico, Central America, South America, and the American Southwest where Mary Louise would paint, highlighting indigenous communities with an emphasis on women and their roles in society. Her sister would stretch several of her paintings on canvasses, frame them, and hang them—an extensive collection that transformed their home into a unique and vibrant gallery. 

Mary Louise created her art using acrylics, watercolors, stone, wood sculpture, pastels, pen and ink, woodblock, and lithography. She received numerous awards and commissions for her work, and many of her pieces were exhibited worldwide. Additionally, Mary Louise’s creations are featured in private and corporate collections in the United States, Asia, Australia, Canada, and Europe, and one of her paintings will be on display at the Mays Cancer Center at the University of Texas San Antonio. 

When Mary Louise passed away, her sister sought to make a difference for other families impacted by pancreatic cancer. She was impressed by the Lustgarten Foundation’s commitment to research and its exceptional rating by Charity Navigator, a trusted organization that evaluates the cost-effectiveness and overall health of more than 225,000 nonprofits. To date, she has donated more than $36,000 to support the Lustgarten Foundation’s mission of transforming pancreatic cancer into a curable disease. She has also established a charitable fund in Mary Louise’s name, and the fund’s trustees are determined to use the money to eradicate pancreatic cancer, in recognition of Mary Louise’s life and legacy. She is focused on selling Mary Louise’s extensive artwork collection to grow the charitable fund. “Pancreatic cancer research needs the help of everyone left behind to enrich the funding for this cancer,” Mary Louise’s sister said. “I miss everything about Mary Louise, and I know that selling her artwork and donating the proceeds to research, through this trust, is exactly what she would have wanted.”  

View and purchase Mary Louise Lopez’s artwork at www.mlopezart.com.