Mary Hooper Hirst

Mary Hooper Hirst, 80, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, died Wednesday, February 1st, 2012, at 3:30 a.m. at McKendree Health Center in Hermitage, Tennessee after a long illness A celebration of her life will be held Saturday, February 18, 2012 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. for friends and family at the Pots Place in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A graveside service for friends and family will be held at 3:00 the same day at Fairview Cemetery #2. Mrs. Hirst was a potter and owner of The Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery in downtown Fountain Square in Bowling Green, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Mark L. Hooper and Helen Powell Hooper of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, David R. Hirst, and a brother, M. Lansing Hooper of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Her husband, David R. Hirst, who died in 1990, was a past Plant Manager in Bowling Green, Kentucky at Cutler-Hammer and Eaton Corporation. Mary Hooper Hirst, a Wisconsin native, was born August 10, 1931 in Manitowoc, later attending the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduating from the University of Wisconsin. She loved gardening, her friends, making pottery, and helping with both her and her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. She was a student in Milwaukee under the well-known Wisconsin potter, Abraham Cohn, who now has a pottery studio and gallery in Fish Creek, Wisconsin called The Potter’s Wheel. Mrs. Hirst was also one of the first women to take welding classes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She made welded found-art assemblages, garden art sculpture and some as unique artistic bases for pots, as well as all kinds of other pottery. She long emphasized the importance of making art accessible to all, and loved the “beauty of imperfection” found in original artwork of all kinds. The Hirsts moved from Shorewood, Wisconsin to India in 1971, and stayed until 1974, then moving to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Mary loved India and the friends she made there; and often said that the time she spent there was a major highlight of her life. She also loved Bowling Green, Kentucky and the great friends she made there. Mrs. Hirst attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated from the University of Wisconsin. She was a past member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, a lifetime member of Girl Scouts, U.S.A., a member of the D.A.R. and the Colonial Dames of America. You can leave a comment that may be on this page by submitting it at the bottom of this page. Survivors include a sister, Nancy Horvath of Lake Waynoka, Ohio, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, three daughters, Elizabeth Sheppard of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Sarah Scanlon of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Helen Hooper-Hirst of Nashville, Tennessee, a sister-in-law, Jacqueline Hooper of Edgerton, Wisconsin, four grandchildren, Jacqueline Hoyle, Hannah Scanlon, Mark Scanlon, and Ginevra Heric, ten nephews and nieces, and other special members of her and her husband’s family who live in Idaho, Arizona, and across the country. Mary will be remembered by many much-beloved family and friends in Kentucky, India, Wisconsin, across the country, and around the world. If you have a special memory of Mary please visit www.betsyanne.com/Mary_Hooper_Hirst.html EASTLAND FUNERALHOME & CREMATION SERVICE 904 Gallatin Road Nashville, Tennessee 37206 (615)227-9558