Mary Lucille Garris

Mary Lucille Rogers Garris, age 90, passed away peacefully on March 20, 2026.

She was born on January 27, 1936 in Miami, Arizona, & grew up navigating the rugged beauty of the American West. As the daughter of a schoolteacher in a remote one-room schoolhouse during the Great Depression, she learned early the values of resilience, adaptability & hard work. Her vivid storytelling of life in New Mexico & the challenges of that era remain a treasured gift to her family.

A woman of deep & abiding faith, Mary Lou loved the Lord & was respected by all who knew her for her quiet wisdom & steady presence.

Her musical talent was evident early. Throughout high school, she sang at the New Mexico State Singing Convention in Roswell with Alamogordo Triple Trio, earning first place honors all four years & an invitation to the Cloudcroft Colloquium. As a gifted soprano, she also won first place as a soloist both her junior & senior years, performing “Ihrhabt nun Traurigkeit” from Brahms' Requiem.

At just eighteen years old, while directing the youth choir at her church, she met the love of her life, George, who was stationed nearby in the Air Force during the Korean War. He often said he fell in love the moment he saw the auburn-haired young woman leading the music. They shared fifty-nine years of marriage, a truly book-worthy love story built on devotion, faith & adventure.

Together, they raised five children in quick succession, creating a home filled with love, resilience & laughter. Even while raising her family, she built a remarkable career, rising from a soda jerk & bank teller to Vice President of a savings & loan institution, where she was a steady & trusted leader through the industry's most challenging years.

Her greatest joy, however, was her family. She turned everyday moments into opportunities for connection, whether teaching her children to cook by letting them choose recipes & shop for ingredients, or gathering everyone together through her warmth & storytelling.

Mary Lou was also an avid naturalist, with a deep love for birding & gardening. She found great joy in God's creation & shared her knowledge generously. She & George traveled extensively across the country & she fulfilled a lifelong goal of visiting all fifty states.

She will be remembered as a loving mother, devoted grandmother & cherished friend, an affable & wise presence whose love drew her family back to her again & again.

She is survived by her children, Georgia Ann (William) Ball, Steve (Debbie) Garris, Wayne (Jane) Garris, Clark (Kerry) Garris & Jean (Mike) Perpich; her grandchildren, Jac Camara, Cassiopeia (Joe Lewis) Camara, Nicole (Jeff) Warren, Logan (Lauren) Garris, Mackenzie Lucille (Josh) Grisetti & Zane (Jenna-Lee Perry) Garris; her “acquired” grandchildren, Jarred (Mary) Weinstein & Evan (Ashlyn Sholar) Weinstein; & her great-grandchildren, Rory Dena Warren & Cooper Warren (Nicole & Jeff Warren), Addison Garris (Logan & Lauren Garris) & Winnie Weinstein (Jared & Mary Weinstein).

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, George Robert Garris; her mother, Ida Lucille Rogers; her sisters, Beverly Nell Rogers Russell & Barbara Jean Rogers; & her father, Thomas Beverly Rogers .

She leaves behind a legacy of faith, strength, love & a life beautifully lived.

A celebration of her life will be held at 2:00pm on Thursday, March 26, 2026 at First United Methodist Church of Pilot Mountain with Rev. Jeremy Pegram officiating. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 1:00pm until 2:00pm. Burial will follow the service at Big Creek Primitive Baptist Church in Westfield.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to First United Methodist Church of Pilot Mountain Creation Care Ministry.

Cox-Needham Funeral Home is respectfully serving the Garris family.