She was born in 1923 in Jellico, TN. Mary Margaret was a 1940 graduate of Norris High School where she met her first love, Lee Brock. After WWII they moved to Oak Ridge to raise a family while working for the government. After the death of Lee, she remarried to Edwin Velek and moved to Houston until his death. Chattanooga became her home with her daughter and son-in-law after returning home from Texas.
Mary Margaret was a member of Red Bank Baptist Church and later Calvary Baptist Church while living in Chattanooga where she made dear friends. The widows at Calvary Baptist were very special to her. Also special to her were the caregivers at Chattanooga Kidney Center in Red Bank and the special people at Morning Pointe Hixson who cared, loved and assisted her in her final days on this earth. She had many talents and hobbies including fishing, crocheting, sewing, and oil painting.
She is preceded in death by her parents, George Wesley and Lena Henneman Leever; husband Lee Crowder Brock; husband Edwin Velek; brother, George Leever, Jr.; sisters, Carolyn Crippen and Shirley Byrd; daughter, Mary Lee Bond. Survivors include daughters Trish (Jerry) Jenkins of Chattanooga and Carolyn Smith of Gilbert, AZ. Twelve grand-children (Jimmy Lee Fultz, Renee Fultz Borgia, Kim Fultz Lines, Kris Hird, Leesa Jenkins Holliday, Jay Jenkins, Kristin Jenkins Patterson, Chris Berry, Aimee Lynn Pomonis, Madalyn Smith, Ashley Smith Barbee, and Natalee Smith Bailly), thirty-six great grandchildren, twenty great-great grandchildren and several special nieces and nephews, all of whom she was very proud.
James 4:14 says “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Most people do not get to live 99 years on this earth, but we all will experience eternity. Because Mary Margaret accepted Christ as her Savior she will spend eternity in Heaven. She truly is in a better place, but will be missed.
Visitation will be held at Chattanooga Funeral Home North Chapel on Thursday, June 30 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a service to follow at 5:00 p.m. with Pastor Dwight Martin officiating.
Graveside services will be in Oak Ridge at Oak Ridge Memorial Gardens at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, July 1.
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com
Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, TN 37343.
