Talk:Mary Kay Ash

Comment
Regarding birthdate, which is questioned: Like many women, she probably got younger as she aged (that is, she lied by giving a more recent birthdate as it became necessary: One source, probably documenting this at a late stage, is the Social Security Death Index, which shows a "Mary K. [sic] Ash" with a SSN of 465-40-5167 who last resided in Dallas, Texas, as having been born on 12 May 1918 and dying 22 November 2001. Her SSN was issued in Texas before 1951. So that's at least one citable source for "a" birthdate, though one that will need to be reconsidered if variant dates are found sprinkled about other documents. - Nunh-huh 08:20, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

TEXAS OBITUARIES (July 2001-July 2003) (from the Texas Almanac 2004-2005) gives her age at death in 2001 as 83: "Ash, Mary Kay, 83; her cosmetics company (known for its signature color pink) grew from 11 employees in 1963 to a multimillion-dollar global empire at her death; in Dallas, November 22, 2001." This also gives an approximate birth date of 1918. (and shows only that she lied consistently at the end).

What's needed to pin this down is her early census records, which will give an actual, unenhanced birthdate, if they can be located. Nunh-huh- 08:20, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Britannica gives 1918. I'm leaning pretty strongly toward that one; all the sources for the 1915 date seem third-hand and unreliable. One site even gives "Mary Kay Ash, the founder the Mary Kay cosmetics company, died Thursday, November 22, 2001, at her home in Dallas. ... She was 83. ... Born in 1915..."! Do the math, kids! CNN's obituary reads "Various media reports gave her age as 83, but company spokeswoman Jennie Moore said the legendary entrepreneur never revealed her age." Perhaps we should go with "(1918?-2001)." -leigh (&#966;&#952;&#8057;&#947;&#947;&#959;&#962;) 09:46, Jan 16, 2005 (UTC)

I checked the census records, and 1918 is legit. First, a biography, American Women Managers and Administrators by Judith A. Leavitt (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1985), names MKA's parents as Edward Alexander and Lula Vember Hastings Wagner. The 1920 census (accessed from heritagequestonline.com with the help of my public-library card), dated January 6, 1920, lists an Alexander Wagner in Harris County, Texas, with wife Lula, and a daughter Mary, age 1 9/12 (which would put her birth month as March or April 1918 [close enough?]). Then the 1930 census shows Edward A. Wagner in Harris Co., wife Lula, daughter Mary C. [sic], age 11. (The C. middle initial is understandable if her original middle name, Kathlyn, was spoken to the census taker, who assumed that started with a C and recorded it accordingly.) Emoll (talk) 15:31, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Harvard Business School
I delete the reference to Harvard Business School. If there is any evidence from a source other than Mary Kay (Corporate) and/or Mary Kay Consultants, that any of the books that Mary Kay wrote have been used in any business course, then it can be added back. 67.136.147.122 17:21, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
 * The article currently (March 2010) says that Her business philosophy, "Mary Kay on People Management" was falsely claimed to have been included in business courses at the Harvard Business School. While there has been no substantiation of this claim, there was no substantiation of the former claim either. I am strongly in favor or removing any reference to Harvard Business School until and unless the content thereof is supported by a citation to a reliable, published, independent source. --Bejnar (talk) 01:24, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

Article neutrality
This article as presently written makes Mary Kay Ash seem like a sort of saint. Even if she was a wonderful person, it still seems a bit over the top. Anyone who was the subject of a TV movie entitled "Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay" has to have been more interesting than that. I don't know enough about the subject myself, however, to take this one on. --A. B. 13:16, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 23:35, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Herpes
Someone keeps adding that she suffered herpes. It was a stroke.. Hannabee 17:31, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

There are three possible illnesses: very early, some sort of neurological condition, possibly trigeminal neuralgia, corrected by surgery. Later, shingles, which comes up in Mary kay corporate legends because she reportedly attended meetings despite the pain, and finally the stroke when she was in her late 70s or 80s. (yes, I'm looking for the references!) 184.183.23.86 (talk) 16:48, 5 August 2011 (UTC) The anonymous researcher

Website
Her website was previously a porn site. I removed that and replaced it with http://www.marykay.com/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Spasty (talk • contribs) 04:50, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Her Husbands

 * Husband # 1: Julius Ben Rogers, Jr: 1935 - 1944(?) : They divorced either right after he came back, or whilst he was still overseas;
 * Husband # 2: Clarence Blair Eckman : 1945 - June 1947 : He died:
 * Husband # 3: Charles Weaver : 1952 (?) - 1961 (?) : They divorced;
 * Husband # 4: George Arthur Hallenbeck : July 1963 - August 1963 : He died;
 * Husband # 5: Melville Jerome Ash : 1966 - 1980 : He died;

For the exact dates, one needs to search the Texas death, marriage and divorce records. http://www.pinktruth.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1993:mary-kay-ashs-missing-marriages&catid=42:general-mary-kay-information&Itemid=63 jonathon (talk) 23:38, 28 August 2010 (UTC)

The chronology is more complex than that. A recently published memoir by one of the first sales reps claims that the surnames of Louis and Miller were also used by Mary Kay. Those marriages at this point have only one source.

Also, she was reportedly married to Weaver twice - once before and once after Hallenbeck. There is circumstantial evidence in a Dallas newspaper report of a robbery at the house of Mrs. Mary Kay Weaver, president of Mary Kay, Inc. and in that the marriage License for Jerome Ash gives Mary Kay Weaver as the spouse, not Mary Kay Hallenbeck.
 * It is possible that she used her older name since the marriage to Hallenbeck was so brief. No remarriage to Weaver is required. --Bejnar (talk) 06:58, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Clarity?
"She later married the brother of Mary C. Crowley, founder of Home Interiors and Gifts."

Does this brother spouse have a name or is he an appendage of his sister Mary? Does having a noteworthy relative justify redacting a person's name? I might not have brought it up but that it caused confusion reading the next paragraph - wondering if the husband mentioned in that paragraph, George Hallenbeck, was the same person as previously unsigned Brother of Mary C.. Is George the same person as Mary's brother? One can't tell without doing further research. For that matter the same sentence, "She later married the brother of Mary C. Crowley, founder of Home Interiors and Gifts.", is in itself ambiguous as to whether the brother or Mary C. is the founder of '"Home Interiors and Gifts"... but let that go, common sense leads towards the probable conclusion.

Upon visiting this talk page to make this note I see how convoluted the entire subject of spousal succession is to the topic of Mary K and I wish you all the best of luck in making sense of it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:268:C145:CB27:E80F:2ED3:35E1:842 (talk) 02:28, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

Divorce from husband #1
The article states "While her husband served in World War II, she sold books door-to-door. After her husband's return in 1938, they divorced" This is not possible since World War II did not start for the United States until December 7th, 1941. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kurtfetherolf (talk • contribs) 00:17, 1 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Seems to be a type, thus 48. Already edited. --213.152.136.194 (talk) 07:44, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

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External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20051122030827/http://www.marykay.com/Corporate/MaryKayAsh_HerAwards_2000.aspx to http://www.marykay.com/Corporate/MaryKayAsh_HerAwards_2000.aspx

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