Mary Batts, beloved mother of 5 children and Mémé to 8 grandchildren, passed from this life on December 18, 2024 at Concord Memory Care in Knoxville. She will be missed dearly by her family, friends, and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her.
Born June 17, 1941 in Nashville, Mary was the third of 4 children of Thomas and Winifred Burke. She attended Christ the King School and St. Bernard Academy, where she made lifelong friends with whom she reunited almost every year. While in Nashville, she met her dear husband, William, to whom she was married for 55 years until his passing. She later moved to Chattanooga, where she finished her education, earning both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Education and where she would spend 40 years raising a family and 25 years teaching at St. Jude Catholic School. During her time as both a member of St. Jude Church and as a teacher at St. Jude, she befriended and came to be loved by countless parishioners, students, and faculty. Mary was well-known as one of the kindest, gentlest, and happiest souls that anyone could ever meet and she helped to better the educations and lives of an untold number of students, many of whom would later tell her that she was the reason they had gone on to succeed in their education and careers. Mary retired from teaching in 2004 and spent most of the next 20 years traveling, mostly to see her grandchildren, and pursuing her second love, dancing.
She is preceded in death by her husband, William, her parents, Thomas and Winifred Burke, her sister Barbara Flowers, and her brother Thomas Burke, Jr. She is survived by 5 children - Will Batts (Curtis), Pam Pike (Alan), Teresa Ward (Derek), Judy Hagerty (Patrick), and Daniel Batts (Chrissie). She is also survived by eight grandchildren who she loved dearly - James Goodman and Addison Batts-Petty, Tanner and Haleigh Ward, Kylie and Dylan Hagerty, and Zane and Charlie Batts.
Family will receive guests from 5 to 8 pm on Sunday, December 22, at the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home with a Rosary at 7:30 pm. The family will also receive guests from 1 to 2 pm on Monday, December 23, at St. Jude Catholic Church, 930 Ashland Terrace, Chattanooga, TN 37415. A Mass of Celebration will follow at 2 pm on Monday at St. Jude Catholic Church with Father Charlie Burton officiating. Burial will be in Hamilton Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research at https://give.michaeljfox.org
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.chattanooganorthchapel.com
Arrangements are by the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory and Florist, 5401 Highway 153, Hixson, TN 37343.
