Mary Walker

Mary Ellen Walker, 87, died Thursday, September 3, 2020 in Granbury, Texas.

She leaves her oldest son, Andy Walker (Nicky Lee); her daughter, Rachel Raines (Nickey); her youngest son, Travis Walker (Scott Clark); three grandsons: Read Raines (Alexia Gyure), Pearce Raines and Anthony Walker; her brother Joe Pearce (Rachel) and her sister Patty Williams.

She is preceded in death by her husband Marion Read Walker, Jr, her parents, Zollie and Irma Pearce, her brother Tyrus Pearce and her sister Theda Berry.

She was born and raised in Brooklyn Mississippi where she graduated from Forrest County AHS. She was a basketball superstar, once scoring 56 points in a single game. She loved her hometown and carried the South Forrest Attendance Center “front-door-stop rock” with her throughout her life.

After graduating from high school, she went on to get her Associates Degree from Perkinston Junior College completing her education at Mississippi Southern College (now USM) obtaining her Bachelor’s, Master’s and AAA Degrees.

While she was at Perk, she met the love of her life, Marion. They were married in 1956 and enjoyed 63 years together until his passing earlier this year.

Ellen was a teacher and coach. Teaching was rooted in her soul. In her early career she taught in Petal before marrying and moving to Gulfport where she taught at Gulfport High School. When the space program relocated she and Marion to Chalmette, Louisiana, she spent 12 years as a Physical Education teacher and fast pitch softball coach at Andrew Jackson High School. While there, her teams won 4 Louisiana State Championships. She returned to Gulfport to live on Marion’s homestead where she would again teach for the Gulfport School District. This time, she landed at Bayou View Junior High where she moved into administration serving as Assistant Principal then Principal before her retirement in 1992. She loved her school children expecting a lot from them while treating all with utmost fairness.

If teaching was her soul, then being a mother, grandmother and aunt was her heart. She was fun and loving and was always ready to go to a ballgame or school event or whatever was going on in the lives of her family. She was the voice of love, reason and guidance, and when there was trouble, she was who you would call.

She loved the Lord and was a lifetime member of the United Methodist Church.

Due to covid restrictions, a private service will be held on Tuesday, September 8, 2020, at First United Methodist Church in Gulfport, at 11:30 A. M. Please log on to First United Methodist Church of Gulfport Facebook page at 2 pm to watch the recorded service. A celebration of Ellen’s wonderful life will be held at a later date.
Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church of Gulfport, www.fumc-gulfport.org or to the Alzheimer's Association, www.alz.org.

RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, Gulfport, is serving the family and memories may be shared at www.riemannfamily.com