Mary Amelia Copenhaver Spivey

Mary Amelia Copenhaver Spivey died June 21, 2026 at 97 years of age. She was born February 12, 1929 the daughter of Dr. Nat H. Copenhaver and Amelia Slack Copenhaver in Bristol, Tennessee. She grew up in Bristol where her father was a surgeon and her mother was the U.S. Postmaster. After graduating from Tennessee High, she attended the University of North Carolina, where she graduated in 1950. There she met her future husband W. Allen Spivey. After marrying Allen, Mary taught elementary school in Chapel Hill, while Allen pursued his master’s and doctorate degrees in mathematics. Afterwards they moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Allen joined the faculty in the business school at the University of Michigan. Mary had two children, Ellen Elizabeth Spivey and David Allen Spivey.

Over the years Mary was a devoted wife, mother and pillar to the family. In mid life she worked for 9 years as a chaplain at the University of Michigan Hospitals, ministering to the sick and dying after receiving training in theology and pastoral care from Saint John’s Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Delta, Delta, Delta sorority, the Ann Arbor Women’s City Club and St. Mary Student Chapel.

Mary cultivated a wide circle of friends. She enjoyed maintaining relationships with these friends and her extended family including numerous nephews and nieces. Most often through frequent and meaningful phone conversations where she was always a good listener, but never shy about giving her advice and opinions. Mary was a voracious reader enjoying mysteries and historical novels. She kept up on current events as a longtime reader of The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal, always curious asking her children and grandchildren about their take on current affairs and cultural changes. She loved her Brittany Spaniels raising generations of them in partnership with her daughter Ellen. Throughout her life, she was a wonderful storyteller, with a remarkable memory for details, serving as an oral historian for the family.

Mary was predeceased by her husband Allen, by her sister Shirley Ellen Copenhaver King and is survived by her brother Nat H. Copenhaver, Jr. (Jane), her children Ellen and David (Julie) and her grandchildren Greta Spivey and Jack Spivey, along with great grandson Kai Spivey. In keeping with her wishes, Mary’s funeral and burial will be private. She will be interred in Forest Hills Cemetery, next to her husband Allen. Donations in Mary’s name can be made to St. Mary Student Chapel in Ann Arbor, Michigan.