Obituary of Mary Wallace Markland

Mary-Wallace Markland, a long time resident of Charleston, passed away at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 5, 2015 at Sandpiper Nursing Home in Mt. Pleasant. She was 81. Mary-Wallace was born on September 25, 1933, in Birmingham, Alabama. She was the daughter of Elmer Lee Rowe and Nena (neé Harris) Rowe. She spent most of her childhood in Valdosta, GA., where she grew up loving the outdoors and animals along with her younger sister, Jane. Mary-Wallace is survived by three children and three grandchildren: her eldest, a son: Arthur Allen Paty IV, of Denver, CO., ; (wife Jeannie) and by them, two grandchildren: Arthur Allen Paty V and Sarah Paty; her second child, a daughter, Nena (neé Paty) Thompson of Atlanta, GA., (husband Bill) and her youngest daughter, Laura-Harris Gascogne in Kansas City, (husband Nick Haney) and by them, her youngest grandson, Lucas Fisher Lowe Gascogne. Mary-Wallace is also survived by her younger sister, Jane Murphy in Atlanta (husband Henry). Mary-Wallace was loved by many friends and family members for being a beautiful person, a stylish dresser, a devoted animal lover, a gifted tennis player, a witty story-teller and the life of many parties over the years. Her charm and beauty had her winning early titles such as “Beauty Queen” and “Wittiest Personality” at Valdosta High School, before joining Atlanta’s buzzing elite social circles of the 1950’s, where she met her first husband, Arthur Allen Paty III. In the years that followed, Mary-Wallace had her three children by two marriages, after which she found a new path through sobriety and the Episcopal Church, to which she kept steadfast loyalty until the end. Her life remained a complex and colorful adventure, which began in Jacksonville, Florida during the 1960’s and early ‘70’s, where she frequented the Ponte Vedra Tennis and Country Club for years and walked miles of beaches along the Atlantic Coast. From the mid-70’s through early ‘80’s she resided briefly in Savannah and finally Vinings, GA., where she lived as a single mother to her youngest daughter, Laura-Harris, working for companies such as Sax Fifth Avenue and The Coca-Cola Company. Mary-Wallace forged many of her lifelong and loyal friendships during this period of her life in the Atlanta area through people in AA and St. Anne’s Episcopal Church. In 1983, Mary-Wallace married a final time to an English-born urologist, Dr. Alan Colin Markland, and departed Atlanta. In the years that followed, she lived in Fayetteville, NC., and on James Island near Charleston, SC., before her husband retired from teaching at MUSC. Her husband’s lifelong dream to live on sailboat and travel the world transformed Mary-Wallace in many positive ways, but also took its toll through long isolated periods away from her family, dear friends, and the AA program that was so important to her. She loved the exciting outdoor life of risks, making stormy Trans-Atlantic crossings, meeting new people in exotic places, and sharing stories of wild adventures with those back home. Eventually, in the 1990’s, Mary-Wallace and her husband came to settle down once again in downtown Charleston, SC., and were members of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, near where they resided on George St. until their divorce in 2008. It was around this time her health began to decline, following a heart attack and a major stroke. She lived a few years on James Island, where she attended St. James Episcopal Church until she could no longer drive. In her typical rallying way, she would bounce back after numerous blows to her health with unprecedented gusto and determination during her last years, defying death with a determined willfulness, vitriol and unforeseen moments of lucidity, inner strength and humor that stunned doctors, friends and family alike. Mary-Wallace loved life and was not one to easily succumb to a peaceful departure. She loved her children and her grandchildren dearly, and while it was her wish to live her last years in the South, in Charleston, she always feared being alone and away from familiar faces and the natural world. Her children are incredibly grateful for the small support circle of friends and spiritual angels, especially Maggie Moran and Louisa Weld of St. James Church that have stood by her side, allayed her fears, and become her second family. It is through their support that Mary-Wallace has remained spiritually strong even in times of fear, pain and distress. You are never alone, Mama, and you are at PEACE with God, dearly loved by many from this life on Earth and in the one hereafter. Forever. Amen.