| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 71.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 7 Oct 2007.
By: DAVID POPIEL
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
10-07-2007
Along Jones Circle and Mineral on Friday, travelers are shaded in the late afternoon by the glowing red fall leaves of maples in our hometown, that got splashed lightly by showers mid week.
One of the things that I like to do is discover the hidden talents that a lot of Cocke County people display. A couple weeks ago when I looked into Betty McMillan's office there was a familiar woman seated talking to her. It was Mary (Cureton) Gray, who was one of about a hundred people who enjoyed the friends and family picnic that Betty put together for Sept. 22. Last week we talked about the picnic and I mentioned we would chat about a woman who attended. The picnic was really a marvelous idea and one of the nicest reunions I've heard about this year. Tunney Moore had invited me to the gathering at Waterville and I am sure it was equally refreshing and fun. But let me tell you about Mary and her talent and then about some folks I saw and talked with last week. Mary has been living near the intersection of St. Tide and Clear Creek roads for about 37 years, and close to the home provided for by her parents, Eugene and Velma Cureton. Eugene was related to Charles Cureton, who lived in downtown Parrottsville and operated the white block Cureton store. Once Mary started naming her siblings and spouses, I knew that you would know them well. There are Carroll and Patricia Cureton, Anna Margaret Ottinger, who is married to Dale, Jerry Cureton and Donna Ealy Cureton, Wanda Sue Shults and husband, Bob Shults.
Mary is married to Alfred Allen Gray and they have a daughter, Melissa, who is married to Roger Wayne Stokely, son of my good friends, Roger and Christine Stokely. The younger Stokelys have two children, Brandon and Jordan. About five years ago, Mary got the idea to do something special for those who had lost a loved one so she collected bits of ribbons from funeral flowers. From these she created tiny bouquets of roses in multicolors. She does this by folding the cut pieces of ribbons and mounting them on colored backing and protecting these behind glass in a 3-D frame. The particular one that I saw was in memory of Betty's mother, Nelle McMillan. It doesn't take her long to make the book-sized, framed memorial flowers but it is difficult to find the small shadowbox frames. During a year she might make as many as 20. Some she gives to friends and family and others she sells when someone requests she create one. Mary said she began doing the artwork when she thought about creating something more permanent than the flowers that wilt after the funeral. I also learned that Alfred is retired from Great Lakes Chemical Corporation and his family is from Carson Springs. His parents were Alfred and Hulda Gray. He has a sister, Vernice Troutman, of Mars Hill. She has been a school teacher.
Mary and I talked some about the old Cureton store, which was really popular when she and her Parrottsville classmates were growing up. Because it took the school bus two trips to take the students home, many students would hang out at the store until 5 p.m. They got to eat a lot of good Cureton food and shared many happy hours during school years. Betty and Mary have been friends since before first grade. The closeness of the Parrottsville classmates is evident and so it was a true reunion for them on a hot Sunday at the park.
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
name: Mary Elizabeth Cureton
also known as:
suffix:
event: Marriage
event date: 22 Sep 1967
event place: Cocke, Tennessee, United States
gender: Female
spouse: Alfred Allen Gray
spouse's also known as:
spouse's prefix:
spouse's suffix:
page: 386
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