Mary Catherine Mitchell

FUQUAY-VARINA – It is with great sadness that the family of Mary Mitchell announces her passing on Friday, April 19, 2024 after a 25-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was 72 when she died at the Emerald Health and Rehabilitation Center in Lillington, N.C.

Mary was born in Manchester, Md., the seventh of eight children of Charles M. and Mary E. Therit. She was raised on a farm and graduated from North Carroll High School in 1969. Although she lived all over the world, she always had deep roots in rural Maryland.

She is survived by her husband of 33 years, Frederic Eugene Mitchell, Jr., their son, Frederic Eugene Mitchell III, and his wife, Alyssa Mitchell, as well as her sisters Audrey Shaffer, Ellen Hopkins (John), Shirley Richards and brothers Dale Therit and Dave Therit (Sandy). She was predeceased by her brother Charlie Therit and sister Ruth Scott. Also mourning her loss are her longtime best friends Grace and Marshall Angotti.

Mary was a talented artist and dedicated teacher. She attended Catonsville Community College and Towson State University where she received a degree in Art Education in 1973. She taught at the Carroll Christian Academy in Westminster, Md, after her graduation. She received a master’s degree in education from Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. in 1977. She then accepted a position as a teacher at Maili Bible School in Waianae, Hawaii (Oahu). She tutored the children of missionaries in the Philippines for a time before returning to Maili Bible School where she soon became the principal of the school. Throughout this time, she traveled to visit family every year and eventually returned to the mainland to teach at Wake Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C.

Mary was a loving wife, mother, sister and friend. She always remembered peoples’ birthdays and anniversaries and enjoyed celebrating with them. She was kind and caring, thinking of others much more than herself. Mary was generous to her core; you could never outgive her. She had a quick sense of humor and her whole face would light up with joy when she laughed. Her Christian faith was integral to her life, and whenever something would happen she would say two words: “let’s pray.” She was easy to love, and a gift to everyone she met. She had a way of making strangers into friends and friends into family.

She met her husband, Fred, in North Carolina. After their wedding they became missionaries for Biblical Ministries Worldwide, planting churches in England. Their son, Frederic, was born in 1992 and spent his early years in England. They came home after many years doing the Lord’s work in England, and served as missionaries in New Mexico, Georgia and later with Baptist Home Missions in North Carolina.

Mary was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1999; for the past five years her body has been paralyzed. Her faith never faltered; she remained strong throughout this season. Even as her body began to fail, she never lost her joy and compassion. She prayed continually, giving thanks in all circumstances. Second Corinthians, verse five reminds us, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” Now Mary gets to be with Jesus, whom she loved so dearly.

A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4 in the chapel of Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, Angier, N.C. The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 3 at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, Angier, N.C. A second memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 9 at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Manchester, Md. Interment will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 9 at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery, Owings Mills, Md.

In lieu of flowers please make a contribution to the Bible Broadcasting Network