Mary Beth Stokes-Oliver

Mary Beth Stokes-Oliver - Atlanta -Mary Beth Stokes- Oliver of Canterbury Court, 3750 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA, died on February 24, 2007. She was a native of Pembroke, GA, living on Strickland Street from her birth in 1914 until her marriage in 1934 to Rev. Henry J. Stokes, Jr., of Savannah. She was also a resident of Pembroke from 1978 to 1999. Mary Beth Strickland was born March 25, 1914, to Dr. and Mrs. J.O. Strickland of Pembroke. She graduated in 1933 from Coker College in Hartsville, SC, married the Rev. Henry J. Stokes of Savannah in 1934, and lived in Georgia most of her life. Rev. Stokes was the pastor of First Baptist churches in Louisville and Montezuma, GA, in the 1930s; in Monroe 1940-42; Gainesville 1942-46; Knoxville, TN 1946-52; and Macon, 1952-62. In 1963, Dr. and Mrs. Stokes moved to Atlanta after he was ordained as an Episcopalian priest. He then served at St. John's Episcopal Church in College Park, GA, and as Rector of Atlanta's Church of the Resurrection until 1978, when the couple retired to Pembroke. Dr. Stokes died in Savannah in 1983. In 1994, Mary Beth married C. Hardy Oliver of Hartsville, SC, and they lived in Atlanta. Mr. Oliver died in 2006. Mary Beth Stokes was a talented artist in Atlanta and Savannah from 1960s until the 1980s. She was a popular English teacher at Fairburn High School in the 1960s-70s. She was a board member of Georgia Citizens for the Arts, member of the Atlanta Artists Center and the Savannah Artists Associates, and founding member of the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. She studied art at the Art Students League in New York City, was a musician who was a frequent soprano church soloist, and was a member of the PEO Sisterhood for more than 50 years (in Savannah, Chapter S.) Mary Beth leaves three daughters, nine grandchildren, and twelve great -grandchildren. Her children are Gail Hodsdon, Beaufort, SC, and husband Bill; Beth Stokes Clinton, Atlanta, and husband Jarrett; and Sharon Kilfeather, Atlanta, and husband John. Her son, H.J. (Jere) Stokes, died in Macon in August 2005. A private burial service will be held on February 27, 2007, at Savannah's Hillcrest Abbey East. A Memorial Service will be held on April 28, 2007 in Savannah at St. Paul's Episcopal Church at 2 p.m. Gifts may be made in Mary Beth Strickland Stokes' name to Coker College, 300 East College Ave., Hartsville, SC, 29550-3742, or PEO's Cottey College, 1000 West Austin Blvd., Nevada, MO 64772-2790. H. M. Patterson & Son Oglethorpe Hill Chapel, 4550 Peachtree Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30319 404-261-3510 Savannah Morning News February 27, 2007 Please sign our Obituary Guest Book at www.savannahnow.com