Mary Jo Button Ard, wife of Dr. F. Michael Ard, mother of Dr. Michael Colin Ard and Cameron Carroll Ard died onThursday July 22,2010 in Tucson, Arizona at the Tucson Medical Center Hospice following a lengthy battle  with breast cancer.Mary Jo was born in Columbus, Ohio on February 12,1944  to Carroll Clarence Button andMarjorie Eult Button. She was raised in Mt.Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Mary Jo earned a BME degree from Indiana University (1966), a Music Therapy degree from the University  of Kansas (1970)  and a M.S. degree in Special Education from Baylor University (1976). She was a Board Certified Music Therapist with the National Association for Music Therapy, Inc. On August 9, 1969 she married F. Michael Ard in Waco,Texas where her husband had accepted a teaching position in the Piano Department of Baylor University. They would remain in Waco while raising their two sons, Cameron and Colin, both  of whom reside in San Diego, California. Colin works in statistics and data management as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neurosciences of the University of California San Diego. Cameron is preparing  to enter Engineering School.Following an adjunct teaching position in the Baylor University Music Education Department,Mary Jo accepted an appointment as Music Therapy Coordinator for the Waco Independent School District -a position she held with distinction for twenty five years. For her work, she was recognized as Outstanding School Coordinator for 1991-92. In 1995, she was able to secure a Clinical Training Site for Music Therapy Interns at WISD after her proposal was approved by the National Association for Music Therapy, Inc. She held her position  until January 2001 when she and her husband retired from their respective jobs and moved to Tucson, Arizona, a city they had grown to love years earlier while her husband pursued a DMA inpiano at the University of Arizona. _From January, 2001 until a short time before her death she continued her work as a MusicTherapist with the State of Arizona and as an independent contractor.The commitment  most dear to her for the past eleven years was her tireless dedication to ending the persecution by the government of China of the spiritual cultivation practice, Falun Gong (also know as Falun Dafa). Her efforts on behalf of fellow practitioners, who follow the principles ofTruthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, took her throughout the country to centers of state and national government  where she presented the dilemma engulfing a peaceful meditation practice and raising awareness in this country of the little known or understood persecution.To quote the mother of one of the children with whom she worked as a music therapist, "Your pervasive generosity and genuine compassion toward others, particularly  those who are unjustly  marginalized and deprived of basic human dignity, have been nothing short of an inspiration to me.•This is the story of a beautiful human being. She will be missed by all who knew her presence. 

Mary Jo, You were the nicest gal. So smart and kind. Your mom taught us sewing at school. {Mrs. Button :o] }When I moved to a house near you I was invited to walk to school with you and your friends.  I so appreciated that. I'm so happy to have known you Mary Jo!