Avis de décès de Mary Newkirk - Nécrologie - MesAieux.com

Mary Cottingham Newkirk passed away peacefully at her home in Atlanta, surrounded by her family, after a brief illness, on July 13, 2008; she was 84. She and her husband of 63 years, Richard Newkirk, had resided at Wesley Woods Towers for three years, moving to Atlanta from Greenville, SC, where they had lived in retirement. They spent every summer for the past 30 years at the family home at Lake Rabun. Mary Louise Cottingham, the daughter of Louise Marchant and Arthur Hallam Cottingham, was born and reared on North Main Street in Greenville with her three brothers, Arthur, Marchant and Walter. Mary grew up amidst a lively and loving array of relatives and friends, people she would know and love her whole life. Her deep sense of who she was and where she was from sustained her throughout the years. She studied piano from the age of seven, played baseball every afternoon with her brothers, spent summers in the North Carolina Mountains, and enjoyed a wide circle of friends. She graduated from Greenville Senior High School in 1941 and amongst many other activities was the captain of the GHS cheerleading squad. She was graduated in 1944 with a degree in music education from Columbia College, from which her mother also graduated. Her children remember Mary's nightly playing on her mother's treasured Steinway as a constant and welcome presence in their lives. She met a brash Yankee soldier stationed at Fort Jackson, S.C., during her senior year of college and was swept off her feet. She married Richard M. Newkirk of Cleveland, OH, on March 31, 1944, and they lived a full life together. Dick Newkirk was deployed to Europe shortly after their wedding and returned in 18 months to meet the couple's first daughter, Marchant. Over the next 35 years, as Dick's General Motors promotions took the family to new places, Mary enthusiastically set up new homes, made countless friends and joined in community activities, including the Junior League and the Methodist Church. Upon Dick's retirement from GM in 1985, they moved back to Greenville and spent more than 20 happy years with family and friends in a life that revolved around Buncombe Street Methodist Church. She enjoyed monthly luncheons with a group of women who attended class together all the way through high school. Mary's children and many friends will remember her as a gracious and compassionate person - generous with her time and material resources. She had a unique ability to always look for the best in people, dearly loved her husband and family, and leaves a legacy of caring for people that serves as an example for all who knew her. Surviving her, in addition to her husband, are five children, Marchant Martin, Nan Young and Henry Newkirk, all of Atlanta, Mary Stephens of Athens and Richard Newkirk of Seattle; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.The family will celebrate Mary's life on Monday, August 11, 2008, at Buncombe Street United Methodist Church in Greenville, S.C., and receive visitors at 10 a.m., followed by a service in the Chapel at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Buncombe Street United Methodist Church, Department of Music, P.O. 1988, Greenville, SC 29602 or to Columbia College, 11301 College Drive, Columbia, SC 29203. The Mackey Mortuary, 311 Century Drive, Greenville, SC 29607