MARY POWELL KING
Died Jan. 15, 2017
Mary Powell King passed away Jan. 15, 2017, at Lower Cape Fear Hospice in Wilmington, N.C.
She was born in Fair Bluff, N.C., in 1928 to Lillian O'Banner Powell and Bruce Culpepper Powell Sr.
She graduated from Bessie Tift Women's College in Forsythe, Ga., with a degree in home economics, and completed an additional elementary education degree at East Carolina University.
She was a devoted educator, who began her teaching career in Northampton County, and later served 30 years in Wayne County as an elementary teacher at New Hope School and Eastern Wayne Elementary.
Upon her retirement, she continued to be involved in her community. Her passion for, and knowledge of, North Carolina history led her to volunteer at the North Carolina Natural History Museum in Raleigh, where she continued to educate students from all corners of our state.
Later, she returned to Fair Bluff, where she was a valued member of many organizations, including her church and the local historical association, and was instrumental in creating the Fair Bluff Depot Museum, where she served as its first curator.
She eventually purchased a home in Swansboro in 1993 to be closer to her granddaughters and other family members.
A graveside service will be held Jan. 20, 2017, at 2 at Powell Cemetery in Fair Bluff.
She is survived by two sons, John Barry King and wife. Morella, of Hampstead and David Powell King and wife, Jane, of Cary; one daughter, Jane King Simpson and husband, Tim, of Swansboro; two granddaughters, Mary Hannah Simpson of Wilmington and Sarah Catherine Simpson of Jacksonville; one grandson, John Erik King of Goldsboro; and one nephew, Homer David King of Bryson City.
Charitable donations may be made in her memory to the following organization: Fair Bluff United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 217, Fair Bluff, N.C., 28439
Meares Funeral Home of Fair Bluff is serving the family.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on January 19, 2017 10:00 AM