Mary Ellen Pope Has Zest for Life at 97by Rita E. Cochrane I’m sure no one ever told Mary Ellen Pope to act her age. The only time she ever gives age a thought is when interviewers marvel at her looks, agility, and schedule. Then she says, “Can you believe that I am only three years away from one hundred?” She is involved in a gene study that may give some insight into her long life. Beyond that, Mary Ellen is too busy visiting friends in nursing homes, taking care of obligations at First Presbyterian Church in Columbus where she is an active elder and on several committees (Worship, Memorial, Congregational Care), keeping up with the activities of her great-grandchildren, and lunching with friends. That is after she has participated in swimming aerobics at the Mississippi University for Women. Her list of present activities would put many of us to shame. Mary Ellen was born a Weathersby, one of seven children in Liberty, Mississippi. Her family moved to Magnolia, Mississippi when she was four, to run the Victoria Hotel. This interesting childhood, I’m sure, influenced her ability to meet people and make them feel at home. She thinks of her mother as one of her heroes. She left Magnolia at the age of fifteen to attend college, and graduated from The Mississippi State College for Women, class of ’26. She also received a Masters from the University of Minnesota, class of ’45. Her teaching career began in the Delta at Anguilla, where she taught Home Economics and Chemistry and where she weathered the flood of ’27. In addition to teaching at the W, her work took her many places, including Peabody, LSU, a joint program between MSU and the W, and work with the State Department of Education. In 1949, while back in Columbus, she met and married the love of her life, Willis Pope. After his death ten years later she returned to work. It was during this difficult time that Mary Ellen says she learned to appreciate the spiritual side of her nature, and where that side of her grew as she “saw God working in and through her friends and the church.” Perhaps it is that spirit that shines through her face. Nothing keeps Mary Ellen down for long—not even fractures that would have put many in a wheelchair. This zest for life has been honored in many ways, most notably as the 2002 Ageless Hero, Vitality Category, presented by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. She also received the Mississippi University for Women Service Award, recently presented at a reception for her at Plymouth Bluff. I have noticed that women I am proud to call my friends, who have lived a long productive life, share many things in common: they have remained active all their lives; they have a sense of humor and a positive attitude; they are interested in other people and show they care about them; they are interested in what is going on in their family, community, country, and world; they have overcome adversity of one sort or another; they have (or have had) health problems, but they don’t let that get in the way of living; they anticipate each new day with joy and enthusiasm; they are all church-goers and have a strong faith! There are some wonderful lessons to learn from these women. As Virginia Hamilton Adair says in her collection of poems Living on Fire, “age is not so weighty for love surrounds me still.”
Rita Cochrane is Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in West Point, MS, and a member of Synod’s communications committee.
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