Mary Ellen Boren

Mary Ellen Selvidge Boren passed away July 29, 2026, in Clifton, TX. She leaves behind a legacy of friendship, love, and enthusiastic support of the arts community. Born to LeRoy and Mantie Selvidge in Wheatland, MO on September 9, 1924, she grew up on a family farm where her parents, her paternal grandfather and her two older brothers all worked together. She attended school in Wheatland, played on the basketball team and graduated in 1941.

After attending Central Missouri Teachers College in Warrensburg, MO, Mary Ellen enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in November 1944. She had Basic Training and Clerk/Typing School at Fort Des Moines, IA before being assigned to Hamilton Field CA. She was fascinated by airplanes and in time became an operator of the Link Trainer, similar to today’s flight simulators. Mary Ellen loved flying and made a number of flights with the Search and Rescue Unit as they compiled routine flight time. After the war she pursued the aviation field as a tower operator at a small private airport in Aurora, CO, followed by stewardess training in Kansas City and then flew for Mid-Continent Airlines for five years.

While living in Kansas City, she met her future husband, Jim Boren; Mary Ellen's roommate, Jan, was dating Jim’s older brother, John. Both couples married and became fast friends for the rest of their lives. After Jim received his Master of Fine Arts degree they decided to have an adventure and drove to Alaska, where they lived for three years. Jim worked as an Anchorage Police Officer and Mary Ellen managed their 12th and L apartment building as well as selling tickets at the Denali Theater. Their first child, Nancy, was born in Anchorage but Mary Ellen actually missed the baby shower since she was at the hospital.

In 1956 the Borens moved to Denver, CO as Jim started on his art career. They welcomed two sons, James Russel and John David, while living there. They often took the three children on camping trips in the mountains and Mary Ellen learned to make great bacon and eggs on camp stoves. She nurtured her children and made sure they got to cub scouts, girl scouts and school events.

Mary Ellen and Jim moved to Oklahoma City in 1965, where Jim’s art career flourished with her help and support. She had wonderful organizational skills and they were put to good use taking care of three children, the art business’s bookkeeping, correspondence, and travel to shows and galleries. She made lasting and dear friendships with other artists and their spouses, gallery owners, and museum staff.

In 1971 the Borens moved to Clifton, TX, already the home of their friends Lucille and Melvin Warren, a fellow artist. Along with artist and gallery owner, Joanne Spieler, they became fixtures in the local art scene. They traveled to several art shows annually, seeing friends and collectors; their life was a wonderful mix of business and pleasure. Europe, Tahiti, and Hawaii were travel destinations they enjoyed. In Pearl Harbor they visited the USS Arizona Memorial where Mary Ellen’s cousin was killed.

After her husband’s death in 1990, Mary Ellen continued being active in the art world by serving as an advisor to the board of the Cowboy Artists of America Museum in Kerrville, TX and sitting on the Art Council at the Bosque Arts Center in Clifton, TX. She supported the Bosque Museum, the Goodall-Witcher Hospital Auxiliary, served as an election judge, and was a member of the BAC book club. She was a faithful member of the Church of Christ for over 75 years.

To celebrate her 90th birthday, she decided she wanted to go coast to coast through Canada on the train, so she and her daughter began in Vancouver on the Rocky Mountaineer and ended the trip in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Mary Ellen loved travel, parties, pretty dresses, and flowers. During her long life she embroidered, knitted argyle socks, made curtains and doll clothes, quilted a quilt she made in high school, grew tomatoes, wrote hundreds of letters, and was, of course, a great cook.

Mary Ellen passed away in hospice care at Clifton Lutheran Sunset home, where she had resided for several years. The family wishes to express heartfelt gratitude to the kind staff at the Sunset Home for the loving care they took of Mary Ellen. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, James Erwin Boren, their son, Jimmy, and her siblings Anna Lou, Maudie, Harry, and Jim. Mary Ellen is survived by daughter Nancy Solohubow and husband, Tim, son John Boren, sister-in-law Fran Boren, numerous nieces and nephews including Tim Boren and wife, Shelly, of Clifton.

A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 2 pm at the Clifton Church of Christ, 203 S. Avenue G. Visitation will follow.

Memorial donations may be made to Cherokee Home for Children, chc4kids.org, or the Bosque Arts Center in Clifton, TX, bosqueartscenter.org, or the charity of your choice.