Born in Springfield, Ohio on July 21, 1924, Mary Elizabeth was the daughter of Fred Bethards & Julia Willinger. She retired as a Housekeeper from Holiday Inn and was a member of the First Baptist Church of Shepherdsville. Mary Elizabeth was full of life and love! She never met a stranger & held her family close to her heart, so much so that she was a grandma to everyone. She could often be found spending time with her family playing board games, bingo or Bunco. She also cross stitched, crocheted and many years ago could be found making her own clothes. Mary Elizabeth lived a full life, a life well lived!
Her husbands, John Carter & Francis Mitchell Downs; parents, Fred & Julia Bethards; & 6 – brothers & sisters, precede Mary Elizabeth in her passing.
Left to cherish her memory are her children, William (Linda) Downs, Mary Jane Thompson & Allen (Elaine) Carter; 8 – grandchildren; 27 – great – grandchildren; 21 – great – great – grandchildren; 2 – great – great – great – grandchildren; her brother, Paul (Pat) Bethards; plus, 6 - step children, their families & a host of other relatives and friends to mourn her passing.
Funeral Services will be held on Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel of the Arch L. Heady & Son Funeral Home in Okolona. Mary Elizabeth will be laid to rest in the Garden of Honor of the Evergreen Cemetery & Garden Mausoleums, where she will rest for eternity alongside her husband, Mitchell. Visitation will be held on Saturday, November 5, 2022 from 12:00 – 8: 00 p.m. and then again on Sunday, November 6, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. until the funeral hour of 2:00 p.m. also at the Arch L. Heady & Son Funeral Home in Okolona.
