Mary Jean Page

Mrs. Mary Jean Gannaway Page, 86, of 400 Avinger Lane Davidson, NC passed away Thursday August 18, 2011 at The Pines at Davidson. Born June 16, 1925 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee to Marie Gott Gannaway and Harry Nunn Gannaway, Mary Jean was married to William Joseph Page, now deceased. Mary Jean attended a year of college at Sophie Newcombe Womens College at Tulane University and graduated with a degree in English from Randolph Macon Womens College. While at college she appeared in a college-pictorial in the Sunday magazine of the Chicago Tribune. This was in 1944 during World War II and her picture appealed to the crew on a ship in the South Pacific as an example of the All American Girl and wrote to her asking if she would consent to be their Pin-Up. She answered and gratefully accepted the honor. She sent them photos and wrote to them faithfully until war ended. Mary Jean worked for Shaw Manufacturing Company on South Boulevard which transitioned to Pennsylvania House of Furniture in Monroe, NC in various capacities for 28 years, ending as a fabric buyer and assistant to the Designer/Decorator. She retired in 1990. She lived in Charlotte for over 40 years and moved to Davidson in 1997. She loved flowers and never left a home without a beautiful yard and shrubbery that she planted and nurtured while living there. She was a huge sports fan, watching her sons participate in football, basketball, track and cross country and her grandchildrens soccer and baseball games. She loved Davidson basketball. A memorial service will be conducted 3:00 p.m. on Saturday August 27 in the Chapel of Raymer-Kepner Funeral Home. The family will receive guest following the services. She leaves to cherish her memory her children, Lt Col (Ret.) Harry Andy Page USMC and wife Cheryl, William Jody Page and wife Anne, Cary P. Wade and husband Julius Jay Wade III; grandchildren, Abbey Wade and husband Garrett Droege, Julius Jake Wade, IV., Mary Flynn and husband Pat, Carl Page and great grandchildren, Henry and Lennon Droege and Annabel Flynn. In addition to her parents and husband she was preceded in death by her grandson Ryan Page. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Lake Norman, 705 Griffith Street, Suite 203, Davidson, NC 28036.