The earthly life of Mary Haynes Spence Wilson came to an end on the morning of Feb. 11, 2010, at the Pavilion in Croasdaile Village in Durham, N.C. For the decade leading up to her 90th birthday, New Year’s Day 2009, Mrs. Wilson lived independently in the Abbotswood at Irving Park retirement community in Greensboro. Soon after turning 90, her health declined rapidly and she was moved to a skilled-nursing facility in Durham to be close to her younger son and his family.
Harry and Olive Haynes were thrilled to welcome Somerville, N.J.’s first baby of 1919, a daughter they named Mary. In 1939, Mary married Thomas Brand Spence Jr. Together they had two sons, Harry Haynes Spence, retired from the United States Army in Washington, D.C., and David Alexander Spence, a resident of Durham. The Spence family moved south to Greensboro in 1952, just in time to become charter members of the new Starmount Presbyterian Church. Sadly, that marriage ended two years later. By 1956, Mary had fallen in love again and married Paul James Wilson (co-owner of the C.H. Slater Realty and Mortgage Company), thereby adding three stepchildren to her home, Patricia Wilson Riddle, now deceased; Catherine Wilson Kimel, wife of Greensboro attorney Jim Kimel, and Paul James Wilson Jr., now residing with his wife, Joline, in Mililani, Hawaii.
With five children to raise, Mary Wilson focused on being a homemaker, but she also found time to faithfully serve as a community volunteer. For more than three decades, she was a regular with the Wesley Long Hospital Auxiliary, thoroughly enjoying her weekly assignments. She also volunteered for many years at Greensboro Urban Ministry. In later life, she especially enjoyed needlework, her favorite game shows, Carolina basketball and weekend NASCAR on television. She would have been thrilled with the news that her personal friend Mark Martin had the pole position last weekend at Daytona.
Mary Wilson is survived by her children, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are through Walker’s Funeral Home in Chapel Hill, N.C.