- Date Of Birth: March 10, 1928
- Date Of Death: January 9, 2021
- State: Georgia
Mary George Barber Poss, 92, of Clayton, GA and formerly of Athens passed away peacefully on Saturday, January 9, 2021. She will always be loved and remembered as a true Southern lady, gracious always.
Among her other endeavors was residential design. In the 1960’s Mary George entered a contest held by McCall’s Magazine designing a kitchen and laundry area. The competition was to design the floor plans, cabinetry, flooring, wallpaper, and draperies. She was awarded 3rd place out of more than 16,000 entries. With this she was asked to join the McCall’s Congress on Better Living Panel. She traveled to major cities across the country on this panel, which was hosted and moderated by Art Linkletter. Over the years she has designed and completed architectural drawings for many clients as well as for her husband including residential homes, Stornoway Condominiums, Ginger Creek Condominiums, the Savannah Place Shops and other downtown buildings.
Mary George opened Athens’ first art gallery in 1962 and after she and Ed moved from Athens to their home on Lake Rabun in 1969, and after many years of painting scenes in Rabun County, she opened Clayton’s first gallery in 1983. She loved Rabun County and its history and spent many years researching and creating historical paintings and producing Limited Edition Prints of this area. One of the most well-known is “Town of Burton”, a folk style documentation of the town now covered by Lake Burton, which she spent two years researching.
Her work has been exhibited in Galleries, Traveling Exhibitions and One-man shows, as well as in private collections throughout the country.
One-man shows include the Fine Arts Gallery in Atlanta, Oglethorpe House, the University of Georgia, South Georgia College Museum, the Learning Foundation, the Recording for the Blind Foundation and Galleries II in Martinsville, VA and Roanoke, VA.
Mary George was an active member of the Atlanta Museum, The Atlanta Artist Club, The Athens Art Association, among others.
In 1946 she married the love of her life, Ed Poss. They were high school sweethearts and voted “Most in Love” by fellow classmates. They enjoyed a wonderful adventurous life together for 71 years before his death in 2017. She loved and treasured her family.
In addition to her parents, Mary George was preceded in death by her husband, Edwin Carroll Poss and a son, John Greg Poss.
Survivors include two children, Jamie Poss Darrah and husband Tim of Sky Valley and Scott Poss and wife Pat McKay Poss of Tiger, five grandchildren, Ashley Martin and wife Rabun, Rabun Gap, Ryan Martin and wife Shelley, Augusta, GA, Jordan Poss and wife Sarah of Greenville, SC, Meredith Poss Thompson and husband Yance, Clayton and Nicolaus Poss and wife Carrie of Lakemont and fifteen great-grandchildren.
