Mary Lou Deason

A Celebration of Life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 25, 2019, in the chapel of Hanes Lineberry Sedgefield Chapel, 6000 West Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro. Officiating will be the Rev. Anthony E. (Tony) Hayworth, pastor of First Moravian Church in Greensboro. The family will greet friends 30 minutes before. Burial will be next to her husband, Everett, who died June 16, 1985 at Guilford Memorial Park.

Mrs. Deason, a devoted wife and loving mother, was born Nov. 18, 1927, in Sumter, South Carolina, to John Hemby Harris and Kate Arlene Belk Harris. She grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and met Everett Eugene Deason while she was attending Lander College in Greenwood, South Carolina. They were married on July 16, 1949, at Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston.

After their marriage, the couple settled in Burlington, North Carolina, where they lived until 1965 when they moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico. They moved to Greensboro in 1968.

A lifelong Presbyterian, she has been an active member of congregations everywhere she lived: Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston; Northside Presbyterian, Burlington; University Presbyterian, Las Cruces; and Vandalia Presbyterian, Greensboro, where she was a member for 50 years. Before and after her marriage, she worked as an orthodontist’s assistant and as a part-time sales associate for stores that focused on infants’ products and fine women’s clothing.

She will be remembered for her love of children and family, her ability to strike up thoughtful conversations with complete strangers, her optimistic outlook on life, and her Charleston-bred hospitality.

Those left to treasure her memory are her children, Everett Eugene “Gene” Deason Jr. (wife Valeri) of Brownwood, Texas, and Susan Leigh Deason Holbrook (husband Vince) of Kernersville, North Carolina; grandchildren, Amy Catherine Deason Slaughter (husband Jonathan) of Buda, Texas, Everett Eugene “Trey” Deason III of Austin, Texas, Jack Everett Holbrook and William Avery Holbrook, both of Kernersville, North Carolina; and one great-grandson, Ross Everett Slaughter of Buda, Texas.

In addition to her husband and parents, Mrs. Deason was preceded in death by brothers, Lawrence Harris of Garden City, Georgia, Clifton Harris of Mabank, Texas, and William Fletcher Harris of Charleston, S.C.

The family asks that memorials be made in her name to your church or preferred charitable organization.