Mary Halsell

PRINCETON – Mary Elizabeth “Mimi” Tolson Halsell, 89, of Princeton, passed away Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at The Havens. Born January 16, 1922 at Rison, AR, she was the daughter of the late George Lincoln Tolson and Annie Laura Payne Tolson. Mrs. Halsell was a graduate of Rison High School. She held a bachelors degree from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and a masters degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. She served the Lord with her Baptist minister husband in Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia. They served together as Southern Baptist missionaries in Brazil for 14 years. After retirement, they did short-term mission work in Ireland, Hong Kong, Germany, Japan and at Bluefield College. She has been a resident of Princeton since 1999, moving here from Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Erle Halsell in 1995, whom she met on September 1, 1938 at Rison Baptist Church and married him there on September 1, 1942; one sister, Beatrice Tolson Deere; and two brothers, Joe Alexander Tolson and George Lincoln Tolson. Survivors include her children, Hilda Ann Blevins and her husband Jim of Farmersville, TX, Tomé E. Halsell, Jr. and his wife Frances of Sydney, Australia, Maribeth Dockery and her husband David of Princeton, and Lauretta Marie King and her husband Alton of Birmingham, AL; seven grandchildren, Christine Halsell Bennett and her husband Daniel of Memphis, TN, John Michael Halsell and his wife Michelle of Ft. Worth, TX, Lydia Ruth Dockery of Washington, DC, Andrew David Dockery of Charleston, WV and his fiancée Maggie Stonestreet of Huntington and Sarah Elizabeth King and her fiancé Jeremy Cousins, Anna Marie King and Jonathan Thomas King all of Birmingham, AL; six great-grandchildren, Aiden, Rowan and Kamen Halsell and Noah, Evan and Sean Bennett; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral Services will be conducted at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, January 22, 2011 at the First Baptist Church in Princeton with Dr. David W. Dockery officiating. Burial will be at 11:00 a.m. Monday, January 24, 2011 at the Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, KY. Because the burial will be in Kentucky, the family requests, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Church, 1116 Mercer St., Princeton, WV 24740. Friends may call Saturday, January 22, 2011 from 2:00 p.m. until service hour at the First Baptist Church in Princeton. Arrangements by Bailey-Kirk Funeral Home in Princeton. To view a video tribute to Mrs. Halsell, or send the family online condolences, please visit www.bailey-kirk.com. Click here to view a video memorial tribute to Mrs. Halsell

Tributes

Mary Halsell

January 19, 2011