Details about her past are sketchy, and while she was once treated with disdain, she’s become a beloved institution in the Dallas gayborhood
Since sometime before 1980, “Crazy Mary” has been a Cedar Springs Road institution.
Details about her past are sketchy. She’s told different versions of a story about how she was a nurse at Parkland hospital who suffered a breakdown after her husband died — in some variations it was her daughter who died — and has been on the street, homeless, ever since. She’s told others she took drugs from the hospital that caused her schizophrenia. In yet another story, she was driving down the street, someone flipped her off — and she flipped out.
Over the years, a general disdain for her grew into tolerance and eventually genuine affection.
No one remembers who named her Crazy Mary, but the name was not given with much affection for the person who often seemed out of control, talking to herself, randomly yelling at people on the street and occasionally lashing out violently.
But over the years, she’s acquired cult status to become one of Oak Lawn’s most famous inhabitants.
Union Jack owner Richard Longstaff called her a fixture in the community. He said in the ’80s he used to tell her to move on. But that’s nothing he’d do anymore.
“I’ve gotten kind of attached to her,” he said.
When former Oak Lawn resident Latisha McDaniel started a Facebook page, “Crazy Mary: Queen of Oak Lawn,” she hoped people would watch out for her.
“Mary represents everything good and ugly about Oak Lawn,” McDaniel said.
She said anyone who lives or visits Oak Lawn has had an encounter with her.
“She makes us aware of homelessness and mental illness and her presence is a contrast to pricey Oak Lawn real estate,” McDaniel said. “The page makes me feel like we’re a community connected through a mutual experience of knowing one lady without a home.”
Mostly the group lets people know they’ve seen Mary, but on occasion word has gone out that she needs a coat or a blanket to help her get through the winter.
When Mary disappears for a period of time, people worry.
But usually when she’s gone, she’s either at Parkland hospital for a short period while she’s getting back on her medications or taking a longer break at Terrell State Hospital.
Lynne Albright was the Dallas Police Department’s LGBT liaison officer beginning in 1986.
“She would sleep either behind 7-11 or alleyways off of Rawlins,” Albright said of Mary. “It really depended on weather.”
At the time, crime on Cedar Springs Road was lower so police officers didn’t concentrate on the area.
“I used to take her to Parkland when it was too cold or she was out of control,” Albright said.
But on the street, little things always made her happy, Albright remembered.
“She loved to go to TapeLenders to see new pictures or artwork,” Albright said.
Dave Richardson, who now owns Skivvies, began working on the Strip in 1983 at TapeLenders. He remembers Mary as already a fixture then. He described several incidents when she came into his store and had to be removed. But he told the story with the respect people in Oak Lawn have for her.
“She was a threat a couple of times,” he said.
Two men were looking at something on a shelf in the store and she approached them.
“They must have looked at her funny,” he said. “She stomped on his foot and broke a bone.”
He said insurance paid the medical bills and Mary had to be escorted out of the store.
In the early ’90s, Richardson opened OutLines.
“Mary used to come in,” he said. “She’d grab a bottle of cologne and spray herself so she’d smell pretty.”
One time when she was in one of his stores, a customer said, “Mary, what are you doing in here?”
She answered that her name is Charlotte.
Richardson said despite being homeless for 30 years, she’s relatively healthy.
“She must walk five, six miles a day,” he said, adding that her stride remains strong.
While most people think of Cedar Springs Road as her home, Mary is sighted regularly all over Oak Lawn. According to the Facebook page, she’s been seen as far away as the Le Madeleine on Preston Road at Forest Lane, eight miles north of the gayborhood.
Michael Bell, who works at Union Jack, called her “a staple of the neighborhood.”
He said he thought her name was Sarah.
People in the neighborhood look out for her, he said. One day he was in line behind her at Subway. When she told the person behind the counter that she was hungry, Bell bought her a sandwich.
“I know people have given her coats and other clothing,” he said.
He saw her happily walking down the street one day wearing a full-length purple body suit with rhinestone bangles. Someone must have been cleaning out his closet, he said.
A bartender who used to work at JR.’s Bar & Grill bought her some clothes and a pack of cigarettes. After giving them to her, he saw her an hour later empty handed.
He asked her what happened to the clothes. She said she sold them. When he asked why, she told him because otherwise they’d be stolen.
After so many years on the street, she’s learned to take care of herself.
Mary may have family in the area. The most common story is she has relatives in Highland Park or University Park. She’s told the staff at JR.’s she has a son.
“She comes from a respectable background,” Longstaff said.
He said he was sure she was a professional at one time.
Everyone interviewed for this story said they hoped it would be written with respect. Several teared up as they talked about Mary.
The name given in derision more than 30 years ago is now spoken with regard. Store owners that used to shoo her off now make sure no one else does.
Danny Sikora, owner of Thairrific, said she’s come into his restaurant a couple of times. The first time was a cold day.
“She was in a good place that day,” he said.
She asked for some hot tea but said she didn’t have enough money to pay for it. He sat her at a table and served her a pot of tea while she warmed up.
The affection for Crazy Mary might be summed up by Scott Lackey’s post on Facebook after seeing her smoking a cigarette at Starbuck’s on Lemmon Avenue.
“She came in and just stared at me smiling,” he posted. “She’s in a great mood. Very happy and ebullient. I want to hug her.”
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 22, 2013.