Mary Jane Carter Heyward

Mary Jane Carter Heyward died July 14, 2016, due to complications after a fall. Born November 30, 1926, in Washington, DC, she was the daughter of Em Sparkman Hamby Carter, a native of Georgetown, SC, and Ferdinand Espey Carter, of Washington. She was raised in Washington and Bethesda, MD, graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, Colby Junior College (New London, NH) and attended American University. Memories of her youth growing up “in the District” of Washington, “in the Village” of Bethesda, and spending the entirety of each summer with relatives at Pawley’s Island, SC were vividly recounted to her family and friends.

As a student during WWII, Mary Jane also served as a volunteer at the USO and at the Office of Price Administration in Washington. After the war, she met Alexander Campbell Heyward, Jr. at Pawley’s Island. He had recently returned from Naval duty in occupied Japan. Married in 1947, Mary Jane and Zan returned to his hometown of Columbia, SC, where they raised their family. Zan was recalled to active duty in Korea.

In Columbia, where she lived for almost 50 years, Mary Jane was affiliated with Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, St. John’s Episcopal Church, the Junior League of Columbia, the Columbia Town Committee of the Colonial Dames, as well as several garden clubs and book clubs. After her husband’s death in 1981, she continued to live in Columbia until she moved to Atlanta, GA in 1995, enabling her to play a more significant part in her daughter’s family. From 2005, she was a resident of Canterbury Court Retirement Community, where she enjoyed new and special friendships. She was a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, the Jamestown Society and the Order of the First Families of Virginia.

Mary Jane was predeceased by her parents, her husband, her brother and sister-in-law, Pete and Shirley Raspberry Carter of El Paso, TX, and her niece, Carolyn Carter Lane of Webster Grove, MO. She is survived by her children and their spouses, Duncan Clinch Heyward and Barbara Neer Heyward of Pawley’s Island, SC, and Carter Heyward Morris and Wade Hampton Morris of Atlanta. She is also survived by six grandchildren and their spouses: Heyward Morris Fougerousse and her husband, John Paul Fougerousse, Duncan Clinch Heyward, Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Hickey Heyward, Wade Hampton Morris, Jr. and his wife, Megan Kota Morris, Alexander Campbell Heyward and his wife, Molly Gage Heyward, Alexander Neer Heyward and Katherine Sparkman Heyward. Also surviving are her six great grandchildren, Em Collins Fougerousse, Marion Page Fougerousse, Jane Carter Morris, Anne Kota Morris, Elizabeth Charles Morris, and Miles Duncan Heyward, as well as her niece and nephews, Catherine Carter Semler, John Golden Carter and Lee Alexander Carter.

Beloved by all three generations of her surviving family, Mary Jane played an active role in each of their lives up until her death. She was known to the many friends from throughout her long life as a most gracious, caring and intelligent lady. Her sweet and lovely spirit will be remembered and missed by all who knew her.

A funeral service will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 435 Peachtree Street, NE in Atlanta on Monday, July 18 at 11:00, followed by a reception in the Parish Hall. A graveside service will be held in the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral churchyard, 1100 Sumter Street in Columbia on Tuesday, July 19 at 11:00. The family will receive friends in the Stirling Room at Trinity after the burial.

In lieu of flowers, Mary Jane’s family requests that memorials be made to one of three institutions with which she had long ties: The Cherokee Garden Library of the Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road, NW, Atlanta, 30305, the Trinity Cathedral Foundation - Churchyard, 1100 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC, 29201, or Brookgreen Gardens, 1931 Brookgreen Garden Drive, Murrell’s Inlet, SC, 29576.