Mary Bethel Isenman

Mary Bethel Isenman passed peacefully from this world with a smile on her face on January 5, 2026. She was comforted and surrounded by friends and family. Her struggle with cancer and several other long-term physical ailments will plague her no more. Despite all the challenges in her life, she always maintained her profoundly positive attitude, spiritual strength and sense of humor. . .and thus, the smile on her face at the end. All who knew her now smile themselves as they recall her smart and sassy sense of humor.

The daughter of Albert W. Isenman, Jr. and Betty Jo Vise Isenman, Mary was born November 1, 1951, in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she was a member of the Class of 1969 at Mount St. Mary Academy. There she made friendships she would cherish as extended family her entire lifetime. While attending Vanderbilt University, she also made lifelong friends who would sustain her on her journey. After graduating in 1973, she made her home in Nashville, where she created an independent life of connection, service, fun and laughter.

Before a physical challenge required her early retirement, she worked at St. Thomas Hospital, where she excelled in writing, speaking and organizational skills. During those years, a high point was when Mother Teresa came to town and Mary saw her, inspired by her simplicity and charity. A trying time came when Mary’s younger brother, Tommy, required a kidney transplant. As always when she was faced with a tough situation, Mary stepped in without hesitation with her intelligence, bravery, positive attitude and love to help him get through it.

She was always willing to “do the research” for a problem or challenge then follow through with the determination and advocacy necessary. Her health challenges required continual research and investigation, which became a forte of hers, so she persisted with realistic optimism. Her very restrictive diet required an iron discipline, and while she would be the first to say she “cheated,” she maintained it more often than most could have.

Despite challenges throughout the years, Mary maintained an independent spirit, admired by many. When she lost her beloved parents, she called herself an "orphan," but she became even closer to her remaining family and friends. She loved visiting them in Little Rock, joyfully joining a women’s group of four who called themselves the Manic Moms. Likewise, she invited her friends and family to visit her in Nashville, where her door was always open with good food and good cheer. Often she would grace her visitors as a knowledgeable tour guide. Alone or with others, she relished going to the bountiful cultural programs, classical concerts and art exhibits that Nashville offered her. She enjoyed working in watercolors herself.

Mary’s unique wit was balanced by a genuine kindness to others and a fierce devotion to family and friends. Her generosity was boundless, sharing her time, attention, and skills in many ways: she read to students in her neighborhood elementary school; she made sandwiches and distributed them door-to-door in a storm-damaged neighborhood; she offered support to those without homes, temporarily or otherwise; she provided a community pantry with her tasty baked goods; she encouraged others to give to charities as she did, such as with the viral ice bucket challenge to raise awareness for ALS; and she visited the sick even while not in the best health herself. This generosity continued despite her fluctuating physical condition, which might keep her body down in the bed but rarely get her spirit down. She could have become insular when she was isolated or selfish when she was in pain, but she never stopped caring with a deep desire to make things better for others as well as herself.

During the last decade, Mary discovered a true passion: creating and sharing homemade ice cream. She experimented widely and remembered the favorite flavors of a host of people. She regularly delivered the delicious treat to her doctors and their staffs, the person who repaired her car, neighbors and countless lucky friends.

After she got cancer, she tempered her independence enough to allow herself to receive some of what she always gave: strength, knowledge and a sincere caring. These gifts came from her close friends in both Nashville and Little Rock, to whom she was overwhelmingly grateful. She said once that these friends were willing “to go to the mat for her” then became tearful with emotion.

When she suddenly lost one of her closest friends in Nashville, as always, she stepped in to help to organize a loving Memorial and Reception. Again, she did this while having to pace herself because of her own health.

She gave heartfelt thanks to her cancer support group and bonded with others battling cancer, always possessing her positive attitude as she navigated the labyrinth of treatments and therapies, tests and trials. She believed in the power of support from groups and friendships because she believed in communication—and she was good at it. She was adept at expressing herself and regaled many a friend with a story that offered a rewarding punch line. She would say that she had “rambled on,” but those who loved her loved her stories. They also loved her witty Christmas cards, which she took great pride in picking out for their sarcasm then sending early to be the first in their mailboxes.

Mary was not a friend you had. She was a friend you treasured.

For the many children and many of the children-at-heart Mary loved and who loved her, she will forever be their dear Mae Mae. She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, two adored brothers, Albert W. Isenman III and Tommy Isenman, and Uncle Raymond Isenman. Mary’s survivors include her dear niece, Colleen Isenman of Little Rock and nephew Walt Isenman of Milwaukee, WI. Mary was not a loving aunt. She was a loving unconditionally aunt.

All who knew and loved her will remember her somewhat mischievous smile, a smile that came from her love of life and the quip on the tip of her tongue, a smile that she left behind with us.

There will be a Celebration of Mary’s Life on Saturday, January 31st, 2026, at Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth Funeral Home in Little Rock, with visitation beginning at 1pm, followed by a service at 2:30pm. Mary will be laid to rest at Calvary Cemetery in Little Rock following the service.

In lieu of flowers, Mary requested any memorial gifts be made to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee - https://www.cfmt.org/MaryIsenman