Bel Air, MD - Mary Lou Carr, 88, of Bel Air, Maryland, passed away peacefully on May 14, 2025, at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Hospital.

Mary Lou was born on September 17, 1936, in Portsmouth, Ohio, to Ninian and Walter F. Brodbeck. She graduated from Portsmouth High School and earned a bachelor's degree in English from Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

She began her career as a dedicated educator in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where she also earned her master's in education from Oklahoma State University. Mary Lou spent many years teaching middle schoolers before moving into school administration, first as Assistant Principal and later as Principal of Stillwater Middle School—a role that combined her strong leadership with her love for working with young people. She had a particular fondness for middle schoolers, finding energy, humor, and possibility in that unique stage of life.

Mary Lou was known as someone you could turn to. She was compassionate, steady, and deeply practical—always ready to help and always grounded in common sense and kindness.

She is survived by her children, Julie Ann Carr East and Jeffrey Burchard Carr; granddaughters, Bryn Elisabeth Weber Peeling and Astrid Katherine Carr; son-in-law, Herbert R. East; daughter-in-law, Amy Karman Carr; and Bryn's husband, Joshua Peeling.

A celebration of Mary Lou's life will be held at Bennett Chapel on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on September 13, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. Friends of the family are invited to attend.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Stillwater Public Education Foundation to support literacy and education initiatives in Stillwater.