Mary Jones Pollard

Mary Lydia Walker Jones Pollard was born in Richmond, Virginia on January 4, 1920 to the late Mary Walker Jones and Walter Douglas Jones, Sr. At a very early age she joined the Ebenezer Baptist Church – founded by Stephen D. Jones, Sr. in 1858, where her father was Minister of Music, and where she attended faithfully until she moved to Haslett Michigan to live with her son, Charles Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. in 1997. Mary graduated from Armstrong High School and Virginia Union University in Richmond. While at Armstrong High School, she was the captain of the girls’ basketball team and was named Most Outstanding Female Athlete in the city of Richmond. She married the love of her life, Charles Nathaniel Pollard on October 4, 1942 in Richmond. He was later drafted into the Army during World War II and died in 1949. Widowed at 29, Mary was a devoted mother to her two children and raised them tenaciously. She worked as a substitute teacher in the Richmond Public School System for over 20 years. Tall and stately, Mary was often recruited by several department stores including Thalhimers, Miller & Rhoads, and Berry-Burk, to model their attire in local fashion shows, which she enjoyed immensely.

Mary Pollard departed this life on January 17, 2016. In addition to her son, Charles, Mary is survived by her daughter Charlean Emily Pollard (Stuart) Mitchell, her granddaughter Kimberly Mitchell, and her grandson Damani (Michele) Mitchell; her sister Emily Grace Jones Jefferson, sister-in-law Maggie Jones; nieces, Eleanor Jefferson, Cornelia Goins, Michelle (Aaron) Portee, and Emily Joy (Preston) McGowan; nephews, Robert (Zenaida) Goins, Jr., Donald D. Jefferson, and Michael D. Jones; cousin Sylvia (Raymond) Ritchie; and several great-nephews, great-nieces, and cousins. She is preceded in death by her brothers Stephen Douglas Jones, Walter Douglas Jones, Jr., and John Robert Douglas Jones, and her sister, Cornelia Walker Jones Goins.

A Funeral Service will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, January 23, at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, 1730 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing, MI, with Celebrant Harold DeMott, officiating. The family will receive friends from 12:00PM – 2:00PM prior to the service. Interment will immediately follow in Glendale Cemetery, Okemos. The family is being served by Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, 1730 East Grand River Ave., East Lansing, MI. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.greastlansing.com.