Mary Wheatley Myers

Mary was born on August 16, 1926, in a farmhouse near Lebanon, KY. She was the youngest of seven children of Joseph Wheatley and Corine Buckman Wheatley. Her childhood nickname was “Teenie” because she was such a wee thing as a newborn. Both parents passed away before Mary’s eleventh birthday. The seven siblings remained close and supported one another until Mary was out of high school. They were educated by the Sisters of Loretto at St. Augustine Roman Catholic School.

In 1944, Mary graduated from St. Augustine High School. In 1945, she moved to Richland, WA, to reside with one of her sisters. After World War II, she met her next-door neighbor, George Myers, who had been away serving in the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theater and who was, in her words, “the cutest man I’d ever seen”. They married on July 31, 1947. The young couple moved to Seattle, WA where George completed his accounting degree at the University of Washington. On graduation, he joined General Electric as a traveling auditor. GE transferred the family (now including three children) to many locations: Richland, WA; Schenectady, NY; Naperville, IL; Dresher, PA; and finally in 1969 to Louisville, KY.

Always a gardener, after her move to Louisville, Mary developed a statewide reputation as a skilled gardener and arranger of dried wildflowers. She was a longtime member of the Garden Club of Kentucky, and a contributor to Yew Dell Botanical Gardens. She was featured in several articles in the Louisville Courier-Journal, and in the magazine Kentucky Woman. She also was a guest on Louisville television shows. Through her business, Mary’s Garden, she created dried flower craft items (for example, wreaths, Derby hats, and Easter eggs). She exhibited and sold her craftwork for many years at the annual St. James Art Fair.

From 1969 to 2020, Mary was a parishioner at St. Margaret Mary Roman Catholic Church in Louisville. She sang in the choir and arranged flowers for the altar.

In the Spring of 2020, Mary moved to Concordia Village in Springfield, IL to live near close family members.

Mary is preceded in death by her husband, George Myers and by her six siblings: Robert Joseph Wheatley, Corine Cusick, Louise Mattingly, Helen Stine, Marian (Minnie) Moberg, and Catherine Donalds. She is survived by her three children, Mary Jane Myers, Barbara Myers Letson (husband John), and John Myers (wife Janet); five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Memorial Gathering and Ceremony: Family will receive friends from 9:30 until 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday, August 9, 2022, at Butler Funeral Home-Springfield, 900 South Sixth Street, Springfield, IL. A memorial ceremony will follow at 10:30 a.m.

Burial will follow at Camp Butler National Cemetery, 5063 Camp Butler Road, Springfield, IL.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sisters of Loretto. The address is Loretto Motherhouse, 515 Nerinx Road, Nerinx, KY 40049.