Mary Hunter obituary

Mary Kay Williams Morris Potter Hunter

HUNTER, MARY KAY WILLIAMS MORRIS POTTER, 97 years and 3 months, passed away September 5, 2009, leaving her family and friends with an abundance of memories and love. Mary Kay, born in Bicknell, Indiana on June 5, 1912, came to Florida to live with her beloved sister Nellie and to pursue her education. She graduated in 1930 from Homestead High School and in 1935 from Florida State College for Women (now Florida State University), where she was a member of the 13th graduating class of this university. Prior to her retirement, she was an elementary school teacher for 30 years in Homestead, Little River and Greynolds Park. She enjoyed playing bridge with her many friends and was a sports fan, diplomatically dividing her loyalty between the FSU Seminoles and the Florida Gators in order to humor all members of her immediate family. Noted for her generosity and desire to serve her community, she volunteered as a Pink Lady at North Shore Hospital, and was a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary organization of women educators dedicated to educational excellence, altruism and world understanding, the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O. International Sisterhood), a philanthropic organization where women celebrate the advancement of women, as well as an active member of Miami Shores Presbyterian Church and the Miami Shores Country Club. She was also a member and past president of the Miami Shores Friendly Villagers, Miami Shores Woman's Club and Miami Shores Garden Club. An avid traveler, she recounted to children, grandchildren and great grandchildren her many exciting experiences including visiting many national parks in the United States as well as honeymooning in Havana, Cuba, seeing volcanoes in Hawaii, cruising through fjords and seeing the northern lights in Norway with her beloved sister Mabel, ferrying from Sweden to Denmark, visiting castles in England and spending Oktoberfest in Germany. Mary was preceded in death by her parents Edward Williams and Marget Davidson, sisters Nellie and Marguerite, brothers James, Charles Edward and Paul, and husbands William Emory Morris, Sr. and C. L. Potter. She is survived by sister Mabel Fisk, sons William Emory Morris, Jr. (Flora Sue) and Charles Edward Morris (Fulvia), grandchildren Pamela Kay Lingenfelter (Rick), William Emory Morris, III, Charles Edward Morris, Jr. (Laurie) and Melissa Christina Morris Howard (Doug), great grandchildren Josh and Erin, and niece Mary Margaret Caldwell. Special thanks for the loving care given her by her wonderful caregivers Romela, Willie and Beebee. She will be remembered and missed, not only by her family, but many who knew her and shared her life. Funeral Services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, September 9th (today) at Stanfill Funeral Home followed by graveside services at Southern Memorial Park, North Miami.

Stanfill Funeral Home 10545 S Dixie (305)667-2518 Family Owned/Operated www.stanfillfh.com To visit this Guest Book Online, go to www.MiamiHerald.com/obituaries.

Published in The Miami Herald on September 9, 2009

Until Heaven

Goodbye Grandma...Nonnie...Mary

6/5/1912 - 9/5/2009

Thanks for prayers for Pam as she will travel to Miami this week for her Grandma's funeral.

Prayers for her sons Emory and Edward as they say goodbye to their mother.

Doings

Pam is doing fair these days. Good days. Bad days. She buckled down and started the anti-hormone drug. Verdict is still out on how that will go. She is recovering nicely from the radiation and most recently the removal of her Power Port. She was not sad to see that go. Fatigue is constant and her nose drips blood* a lot, she would testify that these things are somehow getting worse. Basically, she doesn't feel bad all the time, but she doesn't feel all that great ever either (that sentence ended oddly).

Yesterday we received the news that her 97 year old grandma, Mary, has really taken a turn for the worse. Not doing well. She spent the first 91 years of her life in very good health (she kind of skated through two rounds of breast cancer in 1962/1982), nothing really ever slowed her down. But the past several years have been really hard. So if you are reading this right now, I ask you to pray for her for comfort and peace. Thanks.





These pictures of Pam and the kids with Nonnie are from Melissa's wedding in Coral Gables on 12/30/06.

Here is Pam, Josh and Erin with her on our last visit to Miami in June of 2008. And if you can't tell by the photo, we took her (technically she thinks she took us) to Red Lobster to eat on this day, it has always been one of her favorites. We realize there are better seafood restaurants in Miami (or are there?) but that is one place she loves.

* Pam has been told to take the tamoxifan every other day from now on. The bleeding could indicate thrombocytonpenia...one of the lovely side effects advertised with this drug. She has a week to see if it slows down or stops. The only time it is good to have thrombocytonpenia is when you are playing scrabble. That word is worth about 3,000 points!

A wise Shrek once said...

"Better out than in..."

Now Shrek may have been talking about something other than a Power Port, but it still applies, sort of. Pam is scheduled to be in the ambulatory/surgical unit at Methodist Hospital tomorrow morning to have her port removed. That port has been part of a combination of outward symbols of Pam's ongoing fight with this cancer. It is rarely used now and despite the $23,000+ it cost to have it put in (yes, you read that right) it is coming out. Hopefully there won't be a need to have this "lump" put back in. Pam's goal is to be lump-free from now on.

Speaking of lumps, back in January, post cancer surgery/pre-chemotherapy, Pam found a few more small lumps that concerned her. The plan was to watch them through chemo and radiation. She did. No change during chemo, growing or shrinking, and it was thought that perhaps they were scar tissue. Radiation finished a couple of weeks ago and Pam noticed something. Actually she didn't notice something. SomethingS. The lumps disappeared with the radiation. So what were they? Don't know, but they are gone.

So here we are in August. Pam spent the summer in low key mode, doing treatments, going to the occasional baseball game, not much else. The day to start the anti-hormone therapy has come and gone, still in deliberations on that one (with herself). She wants to feel well for the first time in a long time. She wants to feel like she felt a year ago when she helped with Erin's cheerleading team and ruled the chain gang every Saturday, be it at home or away games. (On a side note, she is mildly bummed that Erin isn't cheering and Josh isn't playing football this year, rather he is playing baseball for his school team, meaning she is out of a job.)

Our kids survived the summer quite well. Erin had a hard time determining which day of each week was her favorite. She eventually admitted it was Monday at the Bergen's enjoying time with all the other kids there and the pool. A sheepish admittal from Josh came a couple of weeks ago as he and I talked about our vacationless summer. His words, "I know it was a hard for mom, but I had a great summer." Pam didn't mind, that was the goal. Our kids tend to be overly penalized because of cancer, and it is nice to know they didn't feel so this time. It took a great deal of effort and a lot of help, but it was worth it. Everyone has problems/issues. It is hard enough for kids to be kids these days. Double hard when they have to carry their parents problems around.

So we will carry on and pray for the best as Pam begins (maybe) the next treatment phase that will present new and interesting challenges.

Rom. 12:18

radiation completion

Pam finished radiation last Friday afternoon. She did so with a bit of mixed emotions. Complicated. But it is done. The schedule for the next few weeks will be much lighter for her. She will have a chance to catch up on some rest, a chance to create new and more satisfying routines. Her goal is to build herself up to a healthier place before she begins hormone therapy. She can do it.

It was almost 24 hours exactly after her last treatment that she met up with our Chillicothe St. Jude Runs team and ran the 1.3 miles through town. 1.3 miles is a far cry from the 21 she ran on Saturday a year ago, but a huge victory for her this year. The event is about raising money for kids with cancer and for the past 5 years has been her thing. The thought of not participating the day of the event was a tough one and she is happy she was able to run a bit, raise a lot and join in with the team at the telethon Saturday night.

Thank you for being with her both in prayer and in person as she has battled every day of this year. The struggles will continue, we accept that. We take things one day at a time and that is OK.