Mary A. Bear

Mary Anne Bear, 60, a 25 year resident of Westchester, having formerly lived in Uhrichsville for 10 years, passed away peacefully at her home after a lengthy illness while surrounded by her loving family on Sunday, December 30, 2012. Born July 9, 1952 in Warren, Ohio, she was a daughter of the late John Henry and Marian Irene (Payne) Cox.

A 1970 graduate of North Bloomfield High School, Mary went on to earn her Bachelor of Science and Masters degrees in Speech and Language Pathology from Kent State University. Mary had a long career as a Speech and Language Pathologist for a number of public school systems, beginning with a year at Caldwell Exempted Schools, followed by several years with the East Guernsey School District, then Conotton Valley and Harrison Hills Schools for many years until her retirement from the Educational Service Center in Tuscarawas County in 2008. Mary was a loving wife and mother who loved caring for her family and was both an excellent seamstress and cook. She loved to travel and was an avid reader in her spare time. She was a longtime member of Park Christian Church in Dennison.

On June 26, 1976, Mary married Doug Bear who survives her at their home. She is also survived by their three children, Matthew Thomas Bear and Andrew Douglas Bear of the home and Rachel Anne Bear of Columbus; brothers, Rev. James (Kate) Cox of Ashland and Alan Cox of Houston, Texas; and many dear extended family members and friends.

Services for Mary, officiated by Pastor Scot Caley and Pastor Brian Flood, will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 4, in the R.K. Lindsey Funeral Home in Dennison. Interment will be in Freeport’s Greenmont Union Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to call at the funeral home from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Those wishing to honor Mary’s memory by a charitable contribution are encouraged to do so to The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, Radnor Station Building 2, Suite 320, 290 King of Prussia Rd., Radnor, PA 19087.