- Date Of Birth: September 18, 1914
- Date Of Death: October 6, 2008
- State: Georgia
Mary Johnson Shell was born on September 18, 1914, the eldest child of Nancy Bowers Johnson and Rhodes Hall Johnson. One of five children, “Miss” Mary and her siblings, Leroy H. Johnson, Ruth Johnson Witcher, Nancy Johnson Nations, and Rachel Johnson Edwards, grew up on the Johnson family farm outside of Turin, Georgia.
She was a member of Turin Baptist Church and was baptized there in 1926. “Miss” Mary graduated from Starr High School in 1932 and attended Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. She also attended Oglethorpe University and West Georgia College, obtaining Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees in Education. “Miss” Mary married Robert Henry Shell, also of Turin, Georgia, on August 16, 1935. After they married, they moved to Newnan, where they joined First Baptist Church.
In 1940, the two purchased a lot on the then-unfinished Elm Street next to Veola and Julian McDonald. At the time, the street was simply pasture on a dirt road, and the neighbors chose their own street numbers. Mr. and Mrs. Shell completed their house at 35 Elm Street by 1941, and there they raised their two children, Martha Nan Shell Van Patten and Rhodes Henry Shell.
After her husband’s death, “Miss” Mary continued to live in the Elm Street house until she died. When she returned to Coweta after two years at Erskine College, “Miss” Mary began teaching, which she continued in various forms for over eighty years. Though she taught elementary age children for the majority of her career, she also taught sixth and seventh graders. She began at East Newnan and also taught in Rico, Charles E. Riley, and Palmetto. Retiring from a permanent position in the early 1980s, “Miss” Mary continued to substitute teach until the mid 1990s.
Throughout her lifetime, she also tutored children of all ages, many of them from elementary school through college. Even after she stopped tutoring children, she often read to preschoolers at First Baptist Church Daycare, First Baptist Church Preschool, Elm Street Elementary, and Jefferson Parkway Elementary, among others.
She fervently supported all aspects of education, helping to found Coweta County’s chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, a sorority that supported local women educators, in 1957. As one of the fourteen founding members, “Miss” Mary contributed to the sorority for the rest of her life, even participating in the fiftieth anniversary celebration held last year.
In addition to her career as a teacher, “Miss” Mary was very involved in the Newnan community. As a member of First Baptist Church, she held various positions during her seventy-plus years there. For a number of years, “Miss” Mary served as Sunday School Director, and after retiring, became the Sunday School Director Emeritus. Within the church, “Miss” Mary promoted the educational ministry and participated in the choir for a number of years. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Newnan-Coweta YMCA when it opened in 1962. “Miss” Mary was well known for her beautiful yard, home to a dogwood tree that she decorated with Easter eggs each year. Additionally, she had hydrangeas, jonquils, sweetheart roses, nandinas, and azaleas and continued to work in her yard up until the last few years of her life.
She also enjoyed painting china and playing bridge each week. Above everything else, “Miss” Mary loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She became an avid football fan after both of her children attended Auburn University and kept up with Auburn games and Braves games for the rest of her life. “Miss” Mary is survived by her brother, Leroy H. Johnson (and his wife, Ella Hill) of Turin, Georgia; children, Nan Shell Van Patten (and her husband, Rodney Van Patten) and Rhodes Shell, all of Newnan, Georgia; grandchildren, Seay Van Patten Poulakos (and her husband, Jim Poulakos) of Newnan, Vee Van Patten of Ponte Vedra, Florida, Blake Shell of Portland, Oregon, and Mary Katherine Shell of Athens, Georgia; and two great-grandchildren. She is also survived by twelve nieces and nephews and many great nieces and nephews. Her husband, Robert H. Shell, preceded her in death.
