Obituary for Mary Mullins (Dillon)
Mary Louise Dillon Mullins, 86, died on November 30, 2020 after a brief illness in Roanoke, Virginia. Lou, as she was called by her grandchildren, was born in Alderson, West Virginia on January 4, 1934 and grew up in Union, West Virginia with her parents, Thomas Carlisle and Eunice Dillon and beloved grandparents, Arthur and Mary Ellen Boon as well as two younger sisters, Peggy Jane and Julie. She attended Concord College where she met and married Stanford J “Rance” Mullins, Jr. from Keen Mountain, Virginia.
After marriage, they set up housekeeping in Oakwood, Virginia and worked for a year together at Whitewood High School as teachers. After that year, Rance went back to the family business of Hardware, Lumber and Furniture while Mary Lou did the hard work at home of starting a family. She had three children, but then returned to work when her youngest was ready for the first grade. She spent the remainder of her formal teaching career between the elementary and high school in Oakwood and has quite a legacy in the lives of the hundreds of children that she truly cared about.
After retirement from her teaching job, she was joyful to keep her teaching skills sharp with the arrival of four grandchildren between 1991 and 1997. For the remainder of her life, her time, energy and love was extended to her children and grandchildren without reservation and with thoughtfulness about how best to bestow lessons on each one.
Lou is survived by her two daughters Lynn Mullins Keene and husband Walter E Keene, III and Melissa Mullins as well as her son Stanford Thomas Mullins with wife Karen Mullins. Her grandchildren are Sarah Mullins Simpson and husband Hunter Simpson, Martha Mullins, Stanford Joseph Mullins and wife Rachel Horn Mullins, and Mary Lynn Mullins. The next generation did get a brief time with Lou as Sarah and Hunter Simpson have Liam Hunter Simpson and Anna Faye Simpson born in April 2019 and November 2020. We will all remember Lou’s lessons to pass on to these two new family members. Lou’s parents and her husband predeceased her.
In addition, her sisters Peggy Jane Flouer and husband Jack Flouer of Manhattan, Kansas and Julie Kanatzar and husband Larry Kanatzar of Frisco, Texas, as well as many nieces and nephews, mourn her loss.
In relating Lou’s lessons to those of you who knew her, she cared much more about what a person did as it had more value than words. She never measured the merit of a person by their family, education or job but based her thoughts and feelings on their actions and character. Kindness was more important to her than many other things and she was convinced that showing kindness to children could instill that ability in them so they would learn to show kindness to others in the future.
She had a love of genealogy and was active in the Levisa chapter of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution)for many years. Lou loved her kitchen and cooked her entire life, enjoying the efforts of making delicious home cooked food and the action of providing nourishment in a literal way to her family, especially the children. Lou was a member of the Presbyterian Church both in Union, West Virginia and later in Oakwood, Virginia.
We, her family, will miss her every day forever. We plan a celebration of her life later in 2021 when safer for all her friends and family members. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Friends of the Buchanan County Public Library Children’s Programs, 1185 Poe Town Street, Grundy, Virginia 24614.
After marriage, they set up housekeeping in Oakwood, Virginia and worked for a year together at Whitewood High School as teachers. After that year, Rance went back to the family business of Hardware, Lumber and Furniture while Mary Lou did the hard work at home of starting a family. She had three children, but then returned to work when her youngest was ready for the first grade. She spent the remainder of her formal teaching career between the elementary and high school in Oakwood and has quite a legacy in the lives of the hundreds of children that she truly cared about.
After retirement from her teaching job, she was joyful to keep her teaching skills sharp with the arrival of four grandchildren between 1991 and 1997. For the remainder of her life, her time, energy and love was extended to her children and grandchildren without reservation and with thoughtfulness about how best to bestow lessons on each one.
Lou is survived by her two daughters Lynn Mullins Keene and husband Walter E Keene, III and Melissa Mullins as well as her son Stanford Thomas Mullins with wife Karen Mullins. Her grandchildren are Sarah Mullins Simpson and husband Hunter Simpson, Martha Mullins, Stanford Joseph Mullins and wife Rachel Horn Mullins, and Mary Lynn Mullins. The next generation did get a brief time with Lou as Sarah and Hunter Simpson have Liam Hunter Simpson and Anna Faye Simpson born in April 2019 and November 2020. We will all remember Lou’s lessons to pass on to these two new family members. Lou’s parents and her husband predeceased her.
In addition, her sisters Peggy Jane Flouer and husband Jack Flouer of Manhattan, Kansas and Julie Kanatzar and husband Larry Kanatzar of Frisco, Texas, as well as many nieces and nephews, mourn her loss.
In relating Lou’s lessons to those of you who knew her, she cared much more about what a person did as it had more value than words. She never measured the merit of a person by their family, education or job but based her thoughts and feelings on their actions and character. Kindness was more important to her than many other things and she was convinced that showing kindness to children could instill that ability in them so they would learn to show kindness to others in the future.
She had a love of genealogy and was active in the Levisa chapter of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution)for many years. Lou loved her kitchen and cooked her entire life, enjoying the efforts of making delicious home cooked food and the action of providing nourishment in a literal way to her family, especially the children. Lou was a member of the Presbyterian Church both in Union, West Virginia and later in Oakwood, Virginia.
We, her family, will miss her every day forever. We plan a celebration of her life later in 2021 when safer for all her friends and family members. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Friends of the Buchanan County Public Library Children’s Programs, 1185 Poe Town Street, Grundy, Virginia 24614.