Mary Owensby 1925-2005

BENEFIELD, TURBIVILLE, OWENSBY

Posted By: michael (email)
Date: 1/2/2006 at 20:37:57

MARY BENEFIELD OWENSBY, 80

Mary Owensby , 80, died peacefully Saturday, December 31, 2005 at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa.

A memorial gathering will take place at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 4, 2006, at Lensing Funeral Home, 210 Holiday Road in Coralville, Iowa.

Mary Owensby was born Mary Hartwell Benefield November 13, 1925, in Danville, Virginia, to William Moffitt Benefield and Margaret Turbiville Benefield. She graduated from high school in Spigna, Alabama, attended Birmingham Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama, and obtained her B.A. in English Literature in 1948. She married Dr. David Eugene Owensby, M.D. in 1950. They later divorced.

She moved to Iowa City in 1972 and worked as a Laboratory Technician for the University of Iowa until her retirement in 1993.

Mary was a devoted mother, daughter and sister. She was an avid patron of the Arts, especially classical music and opera.
She is survived by her children, William Benefield Owensby of Atlanta, Georgia, Mary Margaret Newman of Eugene, Oregon, Joseph Zeigh Owensby of Phoenix, Arizona, and by her grandson, Joseph Pierce Newman of Eugene, Oregon. She was preceded in death by her parents and by her brothers, William Moffett Benefield, Jr. and Joseph Turbiville Benefield.

Memorial donations may be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the American Red Cross or the University of Iowa Foundation.