Aug 11, 1920 - Mar 20, 2018
Obit for Mary submitted by Jo Aguirre
https://www.hennesseyclipper.com/
Wed, 03/28/2018 - 12:00am
News Staff Mary Ellen Wilson was born August 11, 1920 to Russell and
Grace Bedwell White on a farm near Okeene. She passed away
in Hennessey on March 20, 2018, at age 97.
The funeral
service will be in the First Baptist Church in Hennessey on
Friday, March 23 at 10 a.m. The family will receive visitors
at Cordry Gritz Funeral Home on Thursday, 6-7:30 p.m. Mary
graduated high school in Okeene in 1937 and began work as an
aide in the Okeene hospital. In 1939, she married Wesley
Wilson. They raised four children, Jim, Jerry, Paul and
Ruth. Upon Wesley’s discharge from the Army they moved to a
farm near Oklahoma City, and in 1955 to a farm near Lacey.
Besides household chores, Mary raised a large garden, milked
cows and helped with other farm work. In 1976 Mary and
Wesley moved to Hennessey, where they were deeply involved
with the First Baptist Church. In the early 1970s,
immigrants began arriving from Mexico to work in the oil
field and agriculture. Mary and Wesley made new friends,
helping them find work, housing, medical care, and of
course, a spiritual home. Many early arrivals had yet to
learn English, so Mary and Wesley helped establish the
Spanish Baptist Church, Cristo Rey. They began spending time
in the small Mexican town of Madera, from which some
immigrants had come, working to establish a Baptist church
there. Mary was a devoted wife for sixty-four years, until
Wesley’s passing in 2003. As a mother, she tempered
discipline with love and compassion. Her service to others
was guided by devotion to her Christian faith.
Mary was
preceded in death by her parents and her brother, husband
Wesley, and her daughter-in-law Julia.
She is survived by
two sisters-in-law, Jo White and Lanetta Wilson; four
children, Jim (Linda) Wilson, Jerry (Norma) Wilson, Paul
(Cindy) Wilson, and Ruth (Mike) Craig; nine grandchildren;
eight great grandchildren; four great, great grandchildren;
and a host of family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, those
who wish may donate in Mary’s honor to Gideons International
or to Enid Circle of Love Hospice with the funeral home
serving as custodian of the fund.
The family wishes to thank
the staff of the Hennessey Manor for their excellent care.
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