MOUNT VERNON – Mary Elizabeth Sapp, 101, of Atlanta, Georgia (formerly of Mount Vernon, Ohio and Van Wert, Ohio) died Nov. 25, 2022, at A.G. Rhodes Wesley Woods.
Mary was born on Dec. 17, 1920, to John (a farmer) and Bessie (a homemaker) Watson as the middle child of three brothers and a sister. She started school at the age of 5 and when the road to her home was impassable, she would ride to school in a covered wagon. She enjoyed an active and colorful childhood on their family farm in rural Centerburg, Ohio, full of hobbies and games, lots of chores and many beloved pets.
After completing high school, Mary continued her schooling with a two-year private secretarial course at Office Training School in Columbus, Ohio, graduating in 1939. She enjoyed her career as a secretary in an attorney’s office until she met her first husband, Lt. John Wesley Rank. She married Wes Rank on Jan. 10, 1943, and they enjoyed traveling extensively in their newlywed months in the Air Corps until Wes reported for World War II duty as a pilot in May of 1944. On Sept. 15, 1944, Mary received a telegram that Wes had been missing for a month and through months of letters with other crew members’ families, ultimately learned his plane had likely been shot down in the South Pacific by enemy fire. Wes was MIA but was declared legally dead in February 1946 and for 60 years, Mary didn’t know what happened to Wes and his crew of nine until the information was declassified in December of 2004.
After Wes’ death, Mary rejoined the workforce, working as a secretary for several executives at Shelmar Products Company in Mount Vernon, Ohio. In June of 1948, she married Charles S. Sapp Jr., a WWII veteran. They raised two daughters in Van Wert, Ohio, where Charlie was manager of the City Loan and Savings Co. and Mary was a homemaker. They moved back to Mount Vernon when Charlie retired in 1986 to be closer to family and friends. Mary and Charlie were married for nearly 58 years, until his death in 2006. In 2007, Mary moved to Akron, Ohio to live with her daughter Sharon and son-in-law Steve. In 2015, along with granddaughter Sarah, they all moved to Atlanta to live near granddaughter Emilie and her husband and daughter, where Mary lived out her remaining years. She continued living with Sharon and Steve, assisted by only a walker, until well into her 100th year when she suffered a stroke. She died less than a month before her 102nd birthday.
Mary was extremely curious and was always reading and learning; for many years through books and newspapers and then, once she was given a computer and a modem at age 80, as an avid internet user. She maintained email and Facebook accounts until the time of her stroke. She had many varied interests, but the one that she pursued passionately for many years was genealogy. Her last research project was attempting to trace her family lineage back to the Vikings. She was a brilliant documenter of her own life as well as her family’s.
Mary and Charlie always lived in the country, where Mary was a bird watcher and avid gardener, and she grew herbs and flowers for many years of her life. They were collectors of all things old (especially furniture and toy cars) and often casually dreamed of starting post-retirement careers as antique dealers or antique museum curators.
Mary had a hearty sense of humor and loved language. She especially loved to combine the two and often employed puns and plays on words in her correspondence. She also enjoyed writing limericks. She was as sharp as a tack and always had a puzzle book or a crossword-in-progress sitting nearby to pick back up between chores, and later in life, between naps.
In the summer of 2021, her stroke necessitated a move to A.G. Rhodes Wesley Woods. She gave her caregivers a run for their money with her strong opinions, firm boundaries and insistence on as much independence as she could muster, but she was beloved for her humor and feistiness, and she left the world with many new fans and friends. She will always be remembered by all who knew her for her deep resilience (she even survived COVID in early 2022), which she had in spades until the very end. Her family would like to thank A.G. Rhodes for their excellent care and companionship. She was proceeded in death by her parents, all four siblings and both husbands.
She is survived by daughters, Sue Ellen (Tim) Lyons of Estero, Florida and Sharon (Steve) Shriber of Atlanta, Georgia; granddaughters Emilie (Chuck) Sennebogen-Bryant, Sarah Shriber and Kim (Jeff) Urbanik; great grandchildren Ruby Bryant and P.J. and William Floyd, as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
A private family service will be held at a future date.
Preferred memorials are to the National Audubon Society.
