Mary Belle Douglass

Mary Belle Colbert Douglass died January 18, 2017. Mary Belle was born June 8, 1919, to Dr. and Mrs. Bruce Wallace Colbert in Ackerman, Mississippi. Though a long time resident of Jackson, Mary Belle considered Columbus her home. It was there she attended Mississippi College for Women, with continued studies at Soule Business College and Ray-Vogue in Chicago. It was there that she met and married William Lipscomb Douglass in 1951. During her years in Columbus she was an active member in First Southern Methodist Church, the Eagle Forum, the John Birch Society, and past president of Women for Constitutional Government. She also was an acting member or past officer of the Mississippi Genealogical Society, Daughters of the American Colonists, Colonial Dames of America, Magna Charta Dames, United Daughters of the Confederacy, First Families of Mississippi, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Huguenot Society. Her abiding passion was love of country and constitution. Upon her husband’s death, she moved to Jackson to care for her aunt, Mrs. Anita Perkins Pate. She spent many years in various philanthropic activities, including accruing recognition for volunteering at all of the international exhibits, from The Palaces of Versailles to The Majesty of Spain held at the Mississippi Museum of Art. A great deal of her personal effort resulted in the original and on-going restoration of the Jackson Municipal Art Gallery on North State Street in Jackson. She was preceded in death by her parents, Wallace Bruce Colbert and Mary Belle Perkins Colbert; brothers, Bruce Colbert and Perkins Colbert; sisters, Agnes Colbert Ellis, Anita Colbert Whitley, Dorothea Colbert Christensen and Jeanne Colbert Oglesby; and husband, William Lipscomb Douglass. She is survived by three generations of nieces and nephews, from Hawaii to Georgia. For those who did not know her, it is their loss. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory, payable to "Colonial Dames Chapter XV" for the Mary Flowers Hendrix Scholarship for nursing at the Mississippi University for Women. Contact Ginger Coleman at 601-842-4661 for more information. Please visit lakewoodfuneralhomes.com for online guestbook.