Biography:

Mary Nelle Webb Plowman passed peacefully from this Earth on December 23, 2025.  She was born in Dallas, Texas on June 21, 1943 to Dorothy Nelle Perry and James R. Webb.  She enjoyed a special bond with her grandmother Nelle Jones Cox Cooper and her Aunt Jay Cox, who helped raise her in Dallas.  Mary Nelle attended the Hockaday School, spent many summers in Colorado at Camp Cheley where her Aunt Jay was an equestrian instructor, and took adventuresome trips with her grandmother that expanded her world.  She graduated from Dallas’s Woodrow Wilson High School, and then attended Colorado College.  She later transferred to the University of Arkansas, where she received her degree.  After college, she married Norvell Neal Plowman and obtained a master’s degree in education from Boston University with a focus on developmental psychology.  They had four children together and were jointly devoted to their children.

Throughout her life, Mary Nelle was one-of-a-kind and did not suffer fools.  Blessed with a sharp intellect, she was strong-willed, independent, opinionated, and witty.  She instilled these traits in her children.  Having grown up in a generation with a strong sense of work ethic and diligence, she lived her life guided by these principles and did so in a way that was instructive for her children.  She viewed her greatest accomplishment as her four children and equipped them well to make their way in the world.  As a master gardener, she enjoyed working outdoors and the opportunities each season presented.

The Comfort Care Center in Little Rock enriched the end of her life with great kindnesses and support, for which the family is deeply grateful.  A remarkable caregiving team, David, Lauren, Kimberly, Jackie, Cheryl, Jerrell, and Jimmy serve with endless compassion and grace.

Mary Nelle was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Howard Dudley Perry, Jr.  She is survived by her daughters, Leslie Fisken (Nik) and Allison Hatfield (Jeff) of Little Rock and Melanie Plowman of Austin, her son Jason Plowman (Chris Tinney) of Minneapolis, her sisters Nancy Eleanor Perry of Dallas and Vicki Webb Hunter of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and her brother Henry Charles Perry of Dallas.  She is also survived by ten grandchildren who exhibit many of Mary Nelle’s qualities: Cass Plowman, Meredith Hatfield, Natalie Fisken, Garrett Hatfield, Ella Plowman, Cooper Fisken, West Plowman, Allie Fisken, Charlie Plowman-Crouse, and Avery Plowman-Crouse.

A private graveside service will be held at Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock at a later time, where Mary Nelle will be interred.  In lieu of flowers and in recognition of the joy her four-legged friend Oscar gave her, the family welcomes donations to the Humane Society of Pulaski County and the Paws in Prison program administered by the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com