Coping with Grief
We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. Enter your email below for our complimentary daily grief messages. Messages run for up to one year and you can stop at any time. Your email will not be used for any other purpose.
Mary Williams-Warren entered her Heavenly Home on Sunday, January 16, 2022. Mary was born in North Wilkesboro, NC on July 11, 1947 to Lester L. and Maude Phillips Williams. She was preceded in death by her parents, an infant brother, Edward Claude Williams, a sister Martha Williams Miller and her husband Keith Miller, her mother and father-in-law, Paul and Hester Warren.
She is survived by her husband, John Warren, her daughter; Lesley Elisabeth Warren, daughter-in-law Ashley Shinault, two sisters-in-law, Carol Byers (Gary) and Wanda Triplett (Ronnie), two nieces, Kim Buchanan (Clay) and Amanda Blackburn (Matthew) and one nephew, Jason Miller.
Mary graduated with honors from West Wilkes High School. She attended Wilkes community College while working with Northwestern Bank in North Wilkesboro. During her 20 year banking career with Northwestern Bank, Mary started as a Tell, Customer Service Representative, Deposit Counselor I and II, Administrative Assistant, Loan Documentation Specialist, Consumer Lender, IRA expert, Welcome Wagon Hostess and United Way Volunteer. After leaving Northwestern Bank, Mary joined a group of bankers from NCNB and Northwestern Bank and helped set up Southern National Bank (which became BB&T) in North Wilkesboro and a branch in Anderson, SC. She was Marketing Manager, Customer Service Representative, Consumer Lender, Assistant Branch Manager and Branch Manager. Mary was a member of Women Bankers of N.C., Professional Women Bankers and the North Wilkesboro Women’s Club.
At the age of 51, Mary felt called to become a Chaplain. She went back college earning an AA Degree in Human Service Education from Wilkes Community College where she was on the Dean’s List and the President’s List, Secretary of the Human Services Club, Honor Graduate, Honorary member of Delta Phi, member of Alpha Sigma, Vocational Technical Club and Miss Cougar Contestant. In 2004, she graduated with a BS Degree in Social Sciences form Gardner-Webb University and was accepted into the Clinical Pastoral Education Program at Wake Forest Baptist University in Winston-Salem, There she did 600 hours of Clinical Pastoral training and was certified as a Hospital Chaplain in Davis Chapel at WFU Hospital. Mary was commissioned by the Stone Mountain Baptist Association as a Marketplace Chaplain for Marketplace Ministries, Dallas, Texas. She served as Marketplace Chaplain for 4 years with Pilgrim’s Pride, Inc. in Wilkesboro, NC.
Mary was a member of First Baptist Church of North Wilkesboro where she taught the Adult Bible Study Class, served as Grief Team Leader, member of the Sloan Circle and was honored to be the first woman to teach the Wayland Men’s Sunday School Class. She was a past member of Fairplains Baptist Church where she taught GA’s, Kids on Mission, Bible School Teacher, College and Career teacher and Senior Women’s Class and Church Secretary. Mary led the GA’s on a Peanut Butter Ministry where the children collected peanut butter, jelly and bread to be distributed to BROC to feed the elderly on weekends.
Mary loved fashion, art, learning and people. Her first job was with Bernice’s Ladies Shop in North Wilkesboro where she learned about clothing and began to model for severl stores; JC Penny, Belk’s, J R Priesters, Carol-Kaye, Spainhours and Ruby’s.
Mary volunteered for Communities in Schools (2014-2015) where she and her husband read to students at various schools. They also did Reading Across America (2015-2016) reading Dr. Seuss books to Daycare Classes. She was a Samaritans Kitchen volunteer, Hospice Volunteer, Camp Evergreen volunteer, FaithHealth volunteer and did an Internship for Hospice of Wilkes and Avante’ of Wilkesboro. Mary was a member of the North Wilkesboro Lion’s Club where she served on the Board of Directors, Assistant Editor of the Lion’s Paw, received the William L. Woolard Partner-in-Service Award (2015) Lion of the Year Award (2015) and President of the Lion’s Club (2015-2016). She was a Chair of the Red Cross Blood Committee (2015-2016).
Mary was a caretaker. Her mission was for the suffering and dying. Having taken care of her parents since a child, she would pray for them to live, she would be their advocate while they were in the hospital even sleeping with them and then going to work. Mary hoped to comfort her customers as they became sick and dying. She did some of this while working as a Chaplain at the Baptist Hospital. While suffering from pancreatic cancer, Mary’s most comforting verse was words from King David, “My Soul, wait silently for God alone, for he is our Expectation. ((Ps.62:5).
The true loves of Mary’s life was her family. Her kind and loving husband of 36 years, John, and being a “soccer Mom” to her daughter, Lesley. She went from being known as “Mary at the Bank” to being “Lesley’s Mom” which brought her great joy.
Services will be held 2:00 PM Saturday at the First Baptist Church of North Wilkesboro with Dr. Bert Young officiating. The family will receive friends from 1:00 until 2:00 PM prior to the service at the church.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of North Wilkesboro, PO Box 458, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 or to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, PO Box 97339, Washington, DC 20077-7472 which provides food vouchers to help struggling Jews with basic needs.
The family would like to thank all the doctors and nurses at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest Baptist Oncology in Winston-Salem, NC and all the friends who visited, called, brought food, and sent cards and messages expressing both their love and their sorrow.
Online condolences may be made at www.reinssturdivant.com.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mary Williams-Warren, please visit our floral store.