Mary Louise Warner

ROCKY MOUNT - Mary Louise Warner, 97, passed away Sunday, November 21, 2010. Mary was born in Rocky Mount on November 10, 1913 to the late Joshua Lawrence Horne, Jr. and Mary Thorp Horne. She grew up on Church Street, then Sycamore Street, and after attending Rocky Mount schools, she was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University in 1934. On the steps of Duke Chapel she met fellow Duke student, Melvin Jobe Warner of Durham, and they were married shortly after graduation. After several years in service with various public works agencies, Mary Louise and her husband Mel started radio stations WCEC-WFMA. For thirty years she was Continuity Director writing many of the advertisements and public service announcements for the radio stations as well as organizing the flow of programming that listeners heard. She was a member of Junior Guild, and chairman of Family Services for Crippled Children. She was also former chairman of the YWCA, and served as a member of the N.C. Wesleyan Board of Visitors. She was First President and a Charter Member of the Altrusa Club of Rocky Mount, and Building Committee Chairman of the Lexington Avenue YWCA. An avid reader she was also a former member and Secretary of the Braswell Memorial Library Board. Both she and Mel were active volunteers at Nash General Hospital for 22 years. She and Mel also raised three boys. After retirement, she and Mel traveled around the globe, never going to the same place twice because there was "so much to see and experience". Mary Louise kept a sharp mind to the end, and was always ready to debate on most any topic. If you didn't have a topic, she did. It wasn't the conclusion of the debate she was after, but the joy of the back and forth. Mary Louise was preceded in death by her husband Mel Warner after a marriage of 63 years. She is survived by sons Larry Warner of New Orleans, LA, Joe Warner and wife Nancy of Rocky Mount, Michael Warner and wife Betty Craven of Chapel Hill; grandchildren, Scott Warner and wife Sherry of Raleigh and Matt Warner of Rocky Mount; and great-grandson, Andy Warner of Raleigh. A Memorial service will be held at Church of the Good Shepherd on Monday, November 29, 2010 at 2:00pm, with Reverend Scott White officiating. The family will receive friends after the service in the Parish Hall. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Church of the Good Shepherd, the Warner Scholarship Fund of Nash Community College or the Braswell Memorial Library. Arrangements by Wheeler and Woodlief Funeral Home, 1130 N. Winstead Ave., Rocky Mount, NC. You may share your memories and send condolences to the Warner family by visiting www.wheelerwoodlief.com.