Mary Ellen McClain

Mary Ellen McClain of St. Simons Island passed away on February 20, 2024. Mary Ellen was born in St. Louis, MO on December 14, 1947 to Medford and Mildred McClain, the celebratory baby of her father’s return from WWII. She had a brilliant older sister, Ruth, and a sassy younger one, Susan, but she always believed she was the favorite. Her childhood lacked in material luxuries, but it was rich in love and affection. She had a prolific extended family that often lived in cramped quarters, but she recalled the chaos fondly. Forest Park was her backyard playground because everything was, and still is, free there. From the zoo to Art Hill to the Swan Boats, her stories of growing up were idyllic, despite not having a tv, car or indoor plumbing for much of her youth.

Mary Ellen worked in Insurance for most of her career and therefore took Benjamin Franklin’s advice to heart that, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” She was industrious, wildly organized, generous and kind. She loved to watch Cardinal’s baseball and later in life, she became an avid Georgia Bulldogs fan when her oldest grandsons attended college at UGA. She loved to walk at the Pier and find painted rocks with her youngest grandson and best buddy, Owen. She spent her retirement volunteering at the gift shop in the Southeast Georgia Health System Brunswick Campus and Ribbon of Hope, where she made many wonderful friends. She enjoyed connecting with women who, like her, had breast cancer and were still trying to lead active, productive lives while enduring treatment.

Mary Ellen admittedly was terrible at picking men, but she was amazing at picking grandchildren and her five grandsons were the greatest joy of her life. She was inordinately proud of all their accomplishments, as all the best Meme’s are. She also loved being a mother, but being Meme was a lot more fun. She made a legendary gooey-butter cake and safeguarded the recipe in her purse for decades because, “you never knew when you might need to make one.” It was the hallmark of her contribution to family meals and will continue to be made in her honor on holidays, but it likely won’t be as good as hers was.

She had an affinity for the Royal Family and lamented that King Charles has cancer, too. She hopes he fares better than she did. She loved Little House on the Prairie, and her kids have fond memories of watching it with her every Monday night with a bowl of popcorn and M&Ms, but her favorite show was Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and if anyone who shares that fondness still owns a DVD player, she bequeaths the entire Blue Ray series to you. Her favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz, and she took to heart the adage expressed by Glinda the Good Witch to Dorothy that, “You’ve had the power all along, my dear, you just had to learn to use it for yourself.”

While her last year may not have been wonderful, it was filled with many wonderful people, especially Debbie from the gift shop who always had a joke ready to take the edge off; Joanie, who couldn’t give her a new body but sure gave her a lot of laughs; Shelly at the SGHS Infusion Center who Mary Ellen insisted needs a raise; Dr. Cheong, who approaches some of his patient’s most awful moments with humorous practicality (and is forgiven for loving the Florida Gators because of it); Dr. Viliotte who wisely said that medicine is patient care, not just medical care and then lived up to that dictum; the staff of Hospice of the Golden Isles, especially Ali, who must have earned her angel wings a hundred times over by now; and her friends, neighbors, and extensive list of cousins who sent messages of encouragement and support.

Mary Ellen’s parents preceded her in death, as did her younger sister Susan and her grandson, Benjamin Sasser. Her sister Ruth McClain, her son Jonathan Jory, her daughter Lisa Sasser and son-in-law Beau, and her grandsons Dylan, Gray, Jonathan and Owen Sasser and Samuel Jory all know how much she loved them because she told them often and in many ways. She didn’t want a funeral, but instead asked that her family scatter her ashes in Forest Park and then go eat tacos in her memory, which they look forward to doing soon. If you knew Mary Ellen and want to honor her in some way, please make a donation in her memory to the St. Simons Library (“the original internet!”), where she found great resources and many friends, or the Forest Park Zoo in St. Louis, which filled her with such joy so many years ago and continues to delight many children today (for free!). And take a moment to hug your mom if you can.

Rest easy, Meme. You’ve earned it.