Mary Alice Jones Stafford

With her husband and son by her bedside, Mary Alice Stafford slipped from this earthly life to her eternal abode where Jesus is on Saturday, September 9, 2023. Mary Alice is a native of Monroe County, Mississippi and a 1968 graduate of Smithville High School with honors. She earned an Associate’s Degree in Education at ICC, then a Bachelor of Education Degree at MUW, and lastly a Masters of Education at Mississippi State University. She was an Educational Specialist in the graduate school at Mississippi State University.

Mary Alice taught third grade at Smithville School for 29 years as this was the grade of her choice. All her students remember the Little House on the Prairie books that she would read to them during the class quiet time and the “Laura Ingles Wilder Day” she would sponsor each year for the class to dress up like one of the Little House characters.

Mary Alice was saved/born again at the age of 18 and was a member of Pearce Chapel Free Will Baptist Church where she taught a number of children’s classes in Sunday school and VBS. Mary Alice met Greely Darrell Stafford in 1958. They married July 1, 1960 and had 63 years of marriage. They were blessed with one child, Stuart Myron Stafford who has always been their great pride and joy.
She was a great cook and homemaker. She cleaned, painted, mowed, canned, froze food, and more for her family. Her interests included traveling, photography, antiques, watercolor painting, singing, piano, and calligraphy. She enjoyed traveling to antebellum homes and looking at their furnishings, shopping for apparel and shoes, having long telephone conversations with friends, and reading books and magazines. After her retirement in 2001, she was able to attend number of Bible studies. Having her home in order and spic and span, her yard mowed/trimmed, her car clean/shiny always pleased her greatly.

Mary Alice was truly a Proverbs 31 woman. She was a modest lady of the highest standards who expected the same from others. She had a kind, tender, compassionate heart especially for the less fortunate. Mary Alice was a person of the highest integrity and the gift of education she gave to her students through the years made her proud. She enjoyed helping her students prepare for the challenges of life.
Her relationship with her Savior and Lord Jesus Christ meant the world to her. Her family will miss her greatly.

Mary Alice is survived by her husband, Greely Darrell Stafford, Smithville; their son, Stuart Myron Stafford, Franklin, TN; four grandchildren, Laura Whitney Cordes (Cliff), Hawthorne, NJ, Stuart Myron Stafford II, Nashville, TN, Lydia Simone Nielsen (Braedon), Lincoln, NE and Isabella Nicole Stafford, Franklin, TN; three great-grandchildren, Elliot Martin Cordes, Ian Theodore Cordes, and Scarlet Rose Nielsen; a sister, Tommie Nix (Sonny), Hamilton, AL;

In addition to her parents, Tommy and Rosie Stanford Jones, she was preceded in death by her five brothers, J.T. Jones, Harold Jones, Clinton Jones, Johnny Jones, and Quinton Jones; three sisters, Faye Otts, Betty Ann Hammitte, and Eloise Jones.

Her Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 11:00 am at Pearce Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, Smithville, MS with Bro. John Johnson, Bro. Heath Webb, and Bro. Stuart Myron Stafford officiating. Burial will follow in Pearce Chapel Cemetery with Pallbearers being Stuart Stafford, II, Braedon Nielsen, Donald Wayne Jones, Danny Otts, Richie Otts, and Phillip Watson. Honorary Pallbearers will be Will Frederick, Spencer Brock, Richard McAfee and Cliff Cordes.

Visitation for family and friends will be held at the church on Saturday from 9:00 am until the service hour.
Memorials in her honor may be made to the Pearce Chapel Cemetery Fund c/o Patricia Horne at 60158 Hadaway Botton Road, Smithville, MS 38870.

Memories and condolences may be shared with her family at EEPickleFuneralHome.com