MARY ALICE HENNEN of Huntington died Thursday evening, July 26, at the end of a long and courageous battle with leukemia. She spent her final days under the watchful care of the staff at Hospice of Huntington. Mary Alice was born in Huntington on February 17, 1949 to the late Arretta G. and John C. Hennen. She graduated from Huntington High School, where she edited the school paper The Tatler, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from West Virginia University, and a Master of Arts in Journalism from Marshall University. She taught in the public schools of Dayton and Cambridge, Ohio, worked in community relations and employee training in the banking and health care industries, as a free lance publicist, as a newspaper carrier, and in several service occupations. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her beloved older sister, Beverly, in 2008. She is survived by her brother, John, and his wife, Sue Creasap, of Morehead, Kentucky; by her brother-in-law, Donald Van Hook of Charlottesville, Virginia; niece Andrea Van Hook of Fairfax, Virginia; nephew James Van Hook (Laurie), of Amman Jordan, and their children Donny and Sarah; niece Allyson Rocha (Ben) of Des Moines, Iowa and their children Olivia, Elly, and Lexi; cousin Bob Withers (Sue Ann) of Huntington; and many cousins in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland. She is also survived by close friends Kay Lewis and Kathy Winn, many loving friends in Huntington and the Charleston area, and by her dear Cairn Terrier, Buttons. Mary Alice has a loving, creative, and mischievous spirit that is now free from its earthly burden. Her family is deeply grateful for the kind and competent care she received at the Charleston Area Medical Center and Cabell-Huntington Hospital over the years. There will be no visitation or services but a memorial celebration of her life will be planned for fall, her favorite season. Please consider donations in her memory to the Emogene Dolin Jones Hospice House of Huntington; to the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition; or to the Cabell-Huntington Coalition for the Homeless. Beard Mortuary is assisting the family.