The Unofficial Mary Kay Obituary

12 May 1918 - 22 November 2001

Mary Kay Ash, not to be confused with Mary Kay Place, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mary Kay Letourneau and Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, who preferred to be known as just Mary Kay, (after all she made an Ash of herself once and wasn't about to do that again), took a powder from this earth on the above noted date. If you can do the math, you can calculate her age. If you can't then she was older than you need to know.

According to her cosmetician, Mary Kay died of natural causes but a preliminary autopsy report reveals Mary Kay died of lipgloss inhalation.

Born and raised in Texas, her name became synonymous with pink, pink Cadillac's, diamonds and cosmetics of varying colors. She launched her company, Beauty by Mary Kay and later Mary Kay Cosmetics on Friday 13 September 1963 and has never looked back. If she had looked back she would have seen Avon Cosmetics sneaking up from behind. But she didn't and that, as they say, is total body lotion history. After the unexpected death of her second husband it was her goal and mission in life to build a company that would enable woman to earn a living. She became a mogul in the cosmetics world and was often heard to say "If you look good, then I look marvelous!!"

She was once considered for the movie "Pretty In Pink" But Mary Kay declined the role saying that a movie with that title would be a better biography than a vehicle to launch her acting career. If she desired to have an acting career.

Mary Kay retired in 1986. Following a stroke of ill health and not of genius, in 1996, Mary Kay was rarely seen in public. She kept track of her company and it's progress through videotapes provided by the company "Video Tapes R Them." She hired the company on the premise of videotaping the home cosmetics parties to be used at sales seminars but they were really show and tell videos for Mary Kay. She would curl up on the sofa on a Friday night with a bowl of popcorn and a bottle of Jack Daniel's and make a list of what sales people would not receive an invitation to the annual sales meeting in Dallas, Texas that year.

Mary Kay began her selling career with Stanley Home Products and sold products to women at home parties in 1938. She later joined a direct sales group called "World Gifts" but quit in 1963 after a male colleague who was hired to be her assistant was promoted over her at double her salary. That single act of male chauvinism was the final straw that prompted Mary Kay to start her own dream company for women. Her concept was simple: "Sell a lot of items and make a lot of money." She devised a program to reward her saleswomen for outstanding saleswomenship. In addition to financial compensation, the ladies of Mary Kay would earn diamonds and Cadillac's.

Several years ago Mary Kay turned the company over to her son Richard, who was instrumental in helping his mother set up her company when she was first starting out. He will continue to run Mary Kay Cosmetics on the same principles his mother set forth many, many years ago.

There will be a private wake and funeral. A public memorial will be held at half time at the SuperBowl in January. In lieu of flowers, the Mary Kay foundation requests donations to its eyeliner and bath oil division. The Mary Kay Company has also announced a scholarship program which will allow sales women to apply for financial assistance to buy a pink Cadillac in the event they can't earn one on there own.

R.I.P. (Rest In Pink) Mary Kay.