MARY SHEP MANN
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MARY SHEP MANN, 104, a mother, grandmother, great- and
even great- great-grandmother, died Friday, March 12, 2010, in Woodlands Health
Care.
She was born May 10, 1905, in Huntington, W.Va., a daughter of the late
Alonzo and Agusta Mason McVay.
She was also preceded by a sister, Hilda McIntosh; two brothers, John T.
McVay and Joe A. McVay and a great-grandson, William Giesel. Mary Shep Mann was
an inspiration to all who met her.
Known by her grandchildren as "Dede," she was treasured and will be forever
missed by her family who was blessed to know her through five generations.
She was loved by her daughter, Betty Graves Mann Foard and son-in-law
David Allen Foard Jr.; her four grandchildren, Allen Foard and his wife Debby,
Nancy Brashear and her husband Joe,
Paul Foard and his wife Barbara, and Mary Giesel and her husband Rick; her
nine great-grandchildren Allen Foard, Ashleigh Streeter, Sarah Foard, Elizabeth
Foard, Ginny Shenk, Sam Brashear,
William Giesel, Henry Giesel and Heath Giesel; and her three (soon to be
four) great- great-grandchildren, Haley Foard, David Foard and Chamberlin
Streeter.
An eternal optimist full of spark, vitality and love for people even into
her 104th year, Mary Shep Mann was a friend to all and never one to sit back and
observe.
She was a rich part of Huntington's musical traditions. She studied piano
both at Julliard in New York City and Fontainebleau outside Paris.
She was honored through her life as a musician by more than one generation of
piano students whom she taught both as a private instructor and a Marshall
professor.
She performed as a piano accompanist for many professional voice soloists,
including her special friend, Jane Hobson Shephard, and for her own
great-grandchildren.
But Mary Shep's interests and passions did not stop there. She was an
accomplished flower and vegetable gardener, particularly when it came to
peonies, irises and orchids.
She was a master in the art of southern cuisine, southern flavor and southern
hospitality. She baked the world's best strawberry-rhubarb pie and she was "a
baseball nut," especially when it came to the Cincinnati Reds.
A Life member of the Woman's Club of Huntington, Music Teachers National
Association, Board member for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and Adjudicator
for MTNA for W.Va., Ohio and Ky.
Mary Shep was a strong, independent, no-nonsense kind of woman with a mind that
would not quit. She could sew clothes for her daughter and grandchildren, make
Chinese egg rolls as early as the 1970s,
change a car tire and even fix the kitchen sink. Throughout her life, she
traveled the world starting before World War II, visiting such countries as
Russia, China, Japan and most of Europe.
During her early travels, she never missed a beat as she performed piano for her
fellow passengers for the five days it took to cross the Atlantic by ship.
A celebration of Mary Shep's life will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, March 20,
2010, at Enslow Park Presbyterian Church by The Rev. Chris Perkins.
Friends may call 10 a.m. until service time at the church. Expressions of
sympathy may be made to Enslow Park Presbyterian Church, 1338 Enslow Blvd.,
Huntington, WV 25701
or Hospice of Huntington PO Box 464, Huntington, WV 25709. Mary Shep was
not the kind of person that could easily be forgotten, and those who knew her
certainly never will.
She truly lived by one of her life mottos, "Life is like a piano. What you get
out of it depends on how you play it." None can disagree that Mary Shep Mann
played it well.
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