Born on November 5, 1924, Mary Phillips McElmurray, age 92, completed a life well-lived on August 23, 2017.
A native of North Augusta, SC, at age 12 Mary experienced the tragic loss of her 32 year-old mother, her spiritual and musical mentor, to tuberculosis. It was an event that would abbreviate her childhood and propel her into a life of amazing self-reliance and early maturity. Musically gifted and taught by her mother as a child, later through the loving encouragement of a father raising his two daughters alone, she grew into a person of deep spiritual commitment. She became organist/pianist at North Augusta’s Grace Methodist Church by age 16. As Mary’s musical skill and sensitivity grew, she faithfully and enthusiastically communicated her love for God through music at Hephzibah United Methodist Church for more than 40 years at the piano and organ, rarely missing a service.
In the years following the second World War, Mary met and married John S. McElmurray of Hephzibah, Georgia, joining his family of seven siblings and earning their lifelong admiration for her many talents. Following the birth of two children, the McElmurrays moved from North Augusta to her husband’s ancestral farm in Hephzibah, where Mary became the family’s unofficial hostess and an enterprising and creative force both on the farm and in her community. She threw open the doors of hospitality for her extended family—or for anyone, friend or stranger in need—fortunate enough to step into her enveloping circle of kindness. She could often be found simultaneously repairing a broken appliance, tailoring a wedding dress, tending her vegetable and flower garden, restoring a treasured family antique and creating cardboard animals for a child’s science project while preparing a delicious southern meal for those who happened to join the family at mealtime. Her culinary skills were legendary and typical of her amazing problem-solving skill in whatever task that she undertook. As an ardent student of McElmurray history, she became the family’s “keeper of the flame” and hosted gatherings that drew the family back to the farm at every possible opportunity.
An avid reader, Mary was an intelligent and intuitive personality with a genuine interest in others that made her a brilliant conversationalist. With a generous respect for people regardless of their social status, her attentive questions would disarm and endear her guests to her; but her grace and humility would never allow her to pridefully extol her own achievements. She was the most ardent of help-mates for her husband Johnnie and a mother whose lifelong attentiveness to her children’s or her larger family’s needs never wavered. Preceded in death by her husband and her son John Jr., she is survived by her sister Ann Page (Mrs. Weldon) of Barbourville, KY and a host of loving nieces and nephews; her daughter Mary Margaret Bagwell (Mrs. Don) of Cornelia, GA; grandchildren Leigh Scroggs (Mrs. Jacob) of Hartwell, GA and Sarah and Henry McElmurray of Atlanta and Denver, CO; the extensive McElmurray clan of Hephzibah and Augusta, GA; and her long-lost cousin Thomas Irvin (Ellie) of Alexandria, VA.
Her memorial service at her beloved Hephzibah United Methodist Church, situated in the heart of the little town she knew so well, will take place on Saturday, September 9 at 11:00 a.m., with prior visitation in the church fellowship hall at 10 a.m. The family will share their loving recollections of her at a private graveside service at Westover Memorial Park.
Mary’s positive impact on her family is immeasurable and will long endure. She will be remembered and adored by all who knew her as a true Renaissance woman whose life realized every ounce of her human potential—a person who humbly and lovingly shared her faith in God and the talents He so graciously blessed her with, even to the end of her life. We give her back to Him with unspeakable gratitude.
