Mrs. Mary Rue Blaine, 93, passed away peacefully on Friday, June 28, 2024, at Ackerman Nursing Home. A celebration of life will be held Saturday, July 20, 2024, at 2:30 pm at Concord Baptist Church with Brother Roger Griffith officiating. The family will receive friends beginning at 2:00 pm.
Mary was born on June 29, 1930, in Littlefield, Texas, to the late Gladys Parker Roberts and Rue Roberts. She was raised in New Mexico, where she met and married her husband, Garvis Lamar Blaine, on December 1, 1957. The pair traveled the world together, following Lamar’s Air Force career to many faraway places. They eventually settled in Ackerman, Mississippi, where Mary raised her children and found a wonderful community of friends at Concord Baptist Church, where she worked as a secretary for many years. While Lamar was deployed, she would take on all the responsibilities of the children and farm with ease, and even found time to take on small jobs here and there babysitting, working as a lifeguard, and a fire spotter.
With an appreciation for all of her many blessings, Mary was thrifty and conscious, always finding ways to reuse and repurpose items around her house. You could seldom find her without a Harlequin paperback in hand, devouring countless copies over the years. Mary was quiet by nature, fully content with the peace and solitude she found on her farm. She was surrounded by so many of life’s simple pleasures and especially enjoyed raising rabbits and her beloved guineas. While Lamar considered the birds a nuisance, especially when they all squawked in unison, Mary appreciated their usefulness at keeping ticks and snakes away and felt that they earned their keep. Though she was reserved and preferred the privacy and comfort of staying in, she was still known for her abounding grace and strength. Mary’s home was always open to her children and grandchildren, and nothing brought her greater joy than to have the entire family gathered around the table playing cards.
In addition to her parents, Mary was preceded in death by her loving husband of 63 years, Garvis Lamar Blaine; siblings, Billy Hamilton and Janie Dennis; and grandson, Turner Blaine.
Mary is survived by her daughter, Terry Barrón and her husband, Jose, of Pontotoc, MS; her sons, Mark Blaine and his wife, Cheryl, of Adelaide, Australia, Kirk Blaine and his wife, Lori, of Philadelphia, MS, and Scott Blaine and his wife, Teresa, of Caledonia, MS; sister, Lois Roberts of Las Cruses, NM; as well as seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Mary’s memory may be made to a Christian charity of the donor’s choice.
