Mary Duncan Patton

September 23, 1930 - September 18, 2019

MARY DUNCAN PATTON September 23, 1930 - September 18, 2019 Mary Hardis Duncan Patton was born on September 23, 1930, in Algoma, Mississippi, to Francis and Thelma Gardner Duncan. She passed away peacefully on September 18, 2019, at Integris Hospice House in Edmond, Oklahoma. Mary grew up in Algoma and Ingomar with her sisters, Ruth, Sara and Judy, in the height of the Depression and during World War II. She had many memories of chopping and picking cotton, and she never forgot the lessons learned during that hard time. She graduated from Ingomar High School in 1948, where she was valedictorian and a member of the basketball team. She then moved to Memphis and graduated from the Memphis School of Commerce. She became a single career woman, a trailbrazer for her time, and began working for the Ditto Company in Memphis. While living in Memphis, she lived in a boarding house with Monk, Billie, Edna and Margie, ladies who would become lifelong friends. She then transferred to the Ditto office in Atlanta, and finally to Houston, where on February 21, 1954, Mary had a blind date with a handsome salesman named Roy Patton. They married on April 23, 1955, and made their first home in Houston, before transferring to Dallas, and then to San Antonio, Texas. Mary began working as a civilian at Lackland Air Force Base, ultimately becoming secretary to the commanding general. She was working at Lackland on November 23, 1963, and could vividly recall all the details of the base lockdown following JFK's assassination. In 1968 her daughter, Mary Frances, was born. Following Roy's retirement in 1975, the family moved to New Albany, Mississippi, to be closer to her family. Mary began working at Master-Bilt in 1977, serving as executive secretary to the company's president until her retirement in 1995. Mary was a lifelong member of the Methodist church. She was a founding member of Coker United Methodist Church in San Antonio and a member of Glenfield United Methodist Church in New Albany, where she served as a Sunday School teacher, and held many leadership positions. Finally, she was a longtime member of First United Methodist Church in New Albany, where she spent many happy hours after her retirement volunteering in the church office, assisting with the blue newsletter, and counting the weekly collection. She was an active member of the Union County Federation of Democratic Women and the Mississippi Federation of Democratic Women, attending many national conferences for as long as she was able. She was a Girl Scout troop leader as well as a volunteer at the Union County Heritage Museum and the Main Street office. In 1996 she began her favorite career: being a grandmother. She was blessed with six grandchildren, and delighted in having them all for long visits in New Albany, and in spending time in Oklahoma watching ballgames, playing house and spoiling them as often as she could. In 2002, she and Roy bought a second home in Oklahoma in order to spend more time with her family there. Mary was a devoted caregiver to her parents and to her Aunt Frances, and especially to her husband Roy through several serious illnesses, until his death in 2006. In 2016 Mary moved to Edmond, Oklahoma, to be near Mary Frances and her family. She enjoyed three wonderful years living independently at Touchmark of Coffee Creek, where she made many dear friends with her fellow residents and members of the staff. Mary was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Roy Lee Patton, her parents, Francis and Thelma Duncan, her sister, Ruth Duncan Hall, and an infant sister, Jamie Elizabeth Duncan. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Frances and Mark Anglin, of Edmond, Oklahoma; six grandchildren, Austin Goerke of Dallas, Texas; Dr. Kale Goerke, Zakrey Goerke and Amber Goerke, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Kimri Goerke and Morgan Goerke, of Edmond Oklahoma; sister Sara Mattox of New Albany, and sister and brother-in-law Judy and Jimmie Bigham of Okolona; along with many nieces, nephews and cousins. Services will be held on Monday, September 23, 2019, at 11:00 o'clock a.m. at the United Funeral Home Chapel in New Albany, Mississippi, with the Rev. Dr. Timothy Prather officiating. Pallbearers will be Austin Goerke, Dr. Kale Goerke, Zakrey Goerke, Mike Hall, Bill Mattox, Greg Bigham,Jimmie Bigham and Scott Bigham. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to First United Methodist Church in New Albany, Mississippi.