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MARY
M. BLOUNT
- 79 - Citrus and Chemical Bank
BARTOW -
Mary M. Blount, of Bartow died Saturday, May 22, 2010, due to cancer.
Born Dec. 11, 1930, in the Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania suburb of
Wilkinsburg to Scottish immigrants David and Joan Lawson McNair.
Mrs. Blount moved to Bartow as a young wife and mother in October of
1954. She was a 1948 graduate
of Wilkinsburg High School and
attended night courses at the University of Pittsburg. At age 19, she
was chosen from a secretarial pool of 88 at US Steel Headquarters to
serve as an executive secretary to the Marketing Manager after winning
the Pittsburg area stenography and typing contest.
When
the Korean War broke out in June of 1950, she and two friends were
stranded in Miami Beach while on their way to a summer vacation at the
Navy Base in Puerto Rico. She met the love of her life and
husband
of 49 years, the late Bob Blount.
Mrs. Blount worked for Citrus
and Chemical Bank and as lead
Secretary for the closure of the
Bartow Air Base Military Section prior to finding her life's work in
medical practice management. Mrs. Blount went to
work for Dr.'s Tom and
Clyde Gibson in the early 1960's
and became office
manager, a position she occupied until her retirement in 1995. Along
the way the medical practice became Gibson and McMicken in 1967, and
finally Watson Clinic Bartow, 1987.
She
enjoyed athletic competition and through her job became long term
Secretary for the Bartow High School Super Boosters during the Paul
Quinn years. Coach Quinn and the Boosters awarded her an honorary
football letter for her tireless efforts. Although she had a full time
career, she was very involved in school volunteer work during her
children's school years as a PTA officer, homeroom mother, and later as
a dance chaperone.
She
and her husband had their front yard paved so that high school children
would have a place to park their cars for parties and recreation
without blocking the neighborhood driveways. Mrs. Blount loved dancing
in Big Band Swing contests, singing, traveling, and fine dining. Her
favorite times to herself were her 20 plus years of weekly bridge club
with the girls and later in life with the Perkins for Lunch Bunch
ladies. She had a self proclaimed "passion for people" and implored her
children and grandchildren to develop the same. Her greatest loves were
her daily Bible reading and her churches. Mrs. Blount became a member
of First United Methodist Church, Bartow,
shortly after her arrival in
1954, and then she and many
others chartered Asbury
Methodist Church in 1957. At the time of her death she was a member of
Lake Ruth Baptist Church.
Mrs.
Blount was pre-deceased by her husband, parents, sisters Julie Adam and
Nettie Hopkins, and brother Andrew Thompson.
She
is survived by her daughter Leslie Medders and husband Donnie; son Bill
Blount; son #2 Greg Buck and wife Debbie; daughter Patti Kanline and
husband Ken; grandchildren Rachel Blount, Meredith Blount, Annabeth
Blount, Billy Blount, Lauren Perrine, Kenny Kanline, and Katie Kanline,
great-grandson Gabriel Brown; her brother David McNair and wife Marge
of Greenburg, PA; sister Mrs. Joan Hurrell of Penn Hills, PA and many
nieces and nephews.
The
Family will receive friends Wednesday May 26, 2010 at Whidden-McLean
Funeral Home, 650 East Main Street in Bartow. Funeral services will be
Thursday May 27, 2010 at 11 am at the First United Methodist Church of
Bartow, 310 South Broadway
in Bartow. The
interment
will follow at Wildwood
Cemetery in Bartow, Florida.
– Ledger,
May 25, 2010
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