Mary Elizabeth Denison

Mary Elizabeth Denison passed away at Manor Care Health Facility in Iron Mountain MI. Saturday October 6, 2012. Mary was born May 13, 1921 at home on the family farm in Pisgah IL. She graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1938 and spent a year in St. Louis attending Business College. She worked for the Olney Telephone Co. before moving back home and began working for Lawrenceville Federal in 1947. She retired from the bank in 1983. While at the bank she was the first female vice president office manager and the first woman to serve on the board, a position she held until the mid-2000. Mary moved to Iron Mt. MI in 1996 to be near her dear cousin Mary Martha Denison Hendershott and her family. The two cousins were 14 months apart in age and were raised more like sisters than cousins. Mary Martha and her husband Thorndike moved to MI to be near their daughter Lynne H. Wilson, her husband John and their two daughters Rachel and Danielle. Mary was a lifetime member of the local Eastern Star Chapter as well as a lifelong member of the Pisgah Presbyterian Church which stands on land donated by the Denison family. Mary's farm surrounds the church. The church has always been an important part of her life and she held many offices over her lifetime. Though wheelchair bound in the advanced stages of Parkinson's disease, she was able to return to the church in 2008 for the 125th anniversary celebration, a visit she cherished dearly. Mary was preceded in death by her parents' Floyd and Ruth [Seiglel] and her beloved cousin Mary Martha Denson Hendershott {Thorndike}. She is survived by cousins, Tom [Andrea] Hendershott of Chama NM. and Lynne Hendershott Wilson [John] of Iron Mt. MI. Visitation and services will be Saturday October 27th at 10:30 AM at Pisgah Presbyterian Church, interment to follow with Rev. Carol Phillips officiating. Arrangements are being handled by Emmons-Macey & Steffey Funeral Home in Lawrenceville IL. In lieu of flowers Mary requested donations be made to the Pisgah Presbyterian Church.