About Mayor Mary Jo
Mary Jo In Her Role as Mayor
Mayor Mary Jo Heye-Townsell was sworn in as Mayor of Sherwood on January 1, 2023 and is completing her first term as mayor. Has served as an active and accessible mayor of Sherwood these past three plus years. Mayor Mary Jo is a member of the Board of Directors of Metroplan, the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Central Arkansas, the Executive Committee of the Arkansas Municipal League, the Board of Directors of the Central Arkansas Planning & Development District, and the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council.
Education & Experience
Mayor Mary Jo is a graduate of Texas A & M University with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Minor in Finance. She is also an Honors Graduate of the University of Arkansas Medical Science with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. While at UAMS, she received the Helen Fund Scholarship, Dr. Elizabeth O’Connell Endowed Scholarship, the Nightingale Award (voted on by her peers and instructors), and the Arkansas Nursing Students’ Association Courageous Heart Award. She was a Registered Nurse for the Little Rock School District at Little Rock Central High School. Mary Jo was also a USA Swimming and high school certified swim coach. She has coached with the Arkansas Dolphins Swim Team and has been Head Coach of Little Rock Central High School Swim Team since 2011.
Prior to her election to the Office of Mayor, Mary Jo served as the City Council Member of Ward 2 Position 1 since January 1, 2011. Mayor Mary Jo has served on the Street Committee, the Budget Committee, the Parks and Recreation, and Senior Citizen Committees. She s a Certified Public Official through the Arkansas Municipal League and has previously served on the Arkansas Municipal League’s Advisory Council for Large First Class Cities and the Public Safety Committee.
Other Membership & Awards
Mayor Mary Jo is recipient of the Arkansas Municipal League's "Service Above Self" Award for her activities managing the city through the aftermath of the Tornado that struck Sherwood in March 31, 2023. She was awarded the 2010 Sherwood Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year. She is a former board member of the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce and the Sherwood Rotary Club. She also served as Vice Chair of Arkansas Swimming and was awarded the 2012 Conoco Phillips Arkansas USA Swimming Volunteer of the Year. Mary Jo received the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's All-Preps Boys Swim Coach of the Year in 2019 and the 2022 Arkansas All-Preps Swim Coach of the Year (Combined) for her leadership of the Little Rock Central High School Swimming Team.
Personal Life
Mayor Mary Jo moved to Sherwood in 1995. She is the mother of 5 boys. Her oldest son, Trey, passed away on December 6th of 2000. Christopher, 30, and his wife Taylor are dentists practice in the Kansas City, Missouri area; Thomas, 28, is a medical doctor in a Cardio-Thoracic residency in Manhattan, New York; Ian, 26, is pursuing his PHD in Physics at Missouri Science & Technology University in Rolla, MO; and Nicholas, 24, will start his third year of Law School at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in the fall of this year. The four boys attended college on swimming scholarships.
She is married to Tab Townsell, the former Mayor of Conway. She loves gardening, both at home and on city properties. She has taken up Pickleball with a gusto and plays weekly. She and her husband live in service to four completely different shelter cats who occupy their home. She loves traveling when the cats let her. Mary Jo is a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Littel Rock.