Mary Ann Ligon

Mary Ann Ligon is a native Oklahoman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, born on 6 October 1953. A 1971 graduate of Will Rogers High School, Ligon served 23 years in missions in the Arab World where she met her husband and raised three children. Also serving 3 years in England, Ligon received her Certification in Pastoral Counseling from St. John’s College, Nottingham.

The Ligons’ Marine son, Daniel, a veteran of combat in both battles for Fallujah, Iraq, was 24 when his personal battle with the silent, hidden wounds of war came to an end. Daniel was lost to suicide in June 2006.

Two years later, Ligon reached out to the Tulsa community leaders with a proposal to establish a place for veterans to come where they could receive connection, honor, support, resources, and renewal. Coffee Bunker opened its doors on 11 September 2010 to Veterans, Active Duty, Reservists, National Guard, and their family members.

Since 2010, approximately 7,000 individual military veterans and family members have been welcomed at Coffee Bunker, with over 1.1 million visits recorded since it began. Coffee Bunker currently has eight paid staff and 40 volunteers to keep up daily operations, activities and events. Healing, recovery, education, personal and professional development, connections to services, peer support, activities in the arts, music, outdoor trips and more, are some of the ways “the Bunker” has reached out to veterans, military, and their families.

Ligon continues to share her heart of compassion for the well-being of our veterans and their families, endeavoring to impact the ongoing devastation of military suicide.

Mary Ligon is a grateful and deserving recipient of the Major General Douglas O. Dollar Distinguished Public Service Award for exemplary public and local community service.