Marie Maxwell Pardue

PARDUE, MARIE PARKMAN MAXWELL, 94, passed away peacefully on Friday morning, November 30, 2012. She was a long-time resident of Mobile, AL and formerly of Birmingham, AL. The family will greet friends one hour before the 2 p.m. funeral service Sunday, December 2, 2012 at Ridout's Southern Heritage Funeral Home, 475 Cahaba Valley Road, Pelham, AL 35124. Burial, Southern Heritage Cemetery, Pelham. Marie was born September 22, 1918 in Boston, MA, where one of her favorite childhood pastimes was ice skating on the Boston Commons. After two years at Boston University, she earned her B.A. degree in Commerce and Business at the University of Alabama while she majored in Accounting. While living in Birmingham, she met her husband, Al Pardue, Sr., at the University of Alabama. They got married in Orlando, FL before his World War II active duty deployment to the Panama Canal Zone. The Pardues and their three sons often visited Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island, AL, and Marie quickly became known for the seafood gumbo she cooked for family and friends. She loved to play tennis, and was an avid bridge player all the way to age 93, even teaching that card game to her family. She wrote poems and short stories, with one about her husband published in the Mobile Bay Monthly. At the conclusion of Marie's last physical exam, the doctor wrote in her notes that Marie was one fiesty little girl. Often people would say she had a way of making everyone she was around feel important. Marie was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Albert L. Pardue, Sr.; her parents, Cecil Maxwell and Sadie Alison Maxwell; and one son, Stephen C. Pardue. Survivors include two sons, Albert L. Pardue, Jr. (Linda) of Huntsville, AL, and Richard M. Pardue (Jan) of Roswell, GA; daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Pardue of Gautier, MS; and grandchildren, Dr. Derek P. Pardue (Dr. Selma) of St. Louis, MO, Dr. Melissa P. Stallings (Chris) of Loganville, GA; Stephen H. Pardue of Gautier, Stephanie P. Ray (Tony) of Moss Point, MS, James M. Henry (Beth) of Southaven, MS, and Dr. Alison P. Hutto (Dr. Cory) of Gulfport, MS. Marie is also survived by seven great-grandchildren and one sister, Susan M. Powell of Birmingham. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1050 Azalea Road, Mobile, AL 36693.