Mary Joan Ferell

Mary Joan Williams Ferell, 77, of Robbinsville, formally of Cullowhee and Asheville, passed away Thursday, June 13, 2013. The daughter of John Burdett Williams and Mary Pauline Stephens, Ms. Ferell was born May 20, 1936 in Ellijay, NC. Ms. Ferell was a member of the Beverly Hills Baptist Church in Asheville and a part of the Church Family of the Robbinsville United Methodist Church. Ms. Ferell lived most of her young life in the Caney Fork Community and Cullowhee in Jackson County. Most of her professional career was spent in the Asheville area. She graduated from Cullowhee High School in 1954 and went on to graduate from Murray State University with honors in 1979 with a degree in Home Economics and Child Development. Ms. Ferell received her Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development from Western Carolina University in 1992. Ms. Ferell worked with West Asheville Child Development, Southwestern Child Development and Oakley Child Development as a teacher and director. She retired from A-B Tech, working in Program VI Focused Industrial Training and continued to work with Buncombe County Job Link after retirement. Ms. Ferell wrote extensively for the Prime Times Newspaper in Asheville and wrote editorials for the Asheville Citizen Times newspaper in Asheville. She also published a book titled Smoky Mountain Tales about her life as a young girl growing up in Caney Fork and Cullowhee. Mary Joan was a proud, determined Appalachian woman, tough as a pine knot, intelligent, self-motivated and overcame numerous obstacles to obtain an education. She loved her cats, planting flowers, looking nice and speeding through the mountains in her red Miata convertible. She enjoyed quilting, sewing and reading. She also enjoyed traveling, writing, and spending time with her family and friends. Besides her parents she was also preceded in death by her grandson Jesse Frank Bryson. She is survived by her sister, Johnnie Ann Coggins and her husband Calvin of Hendersonville; her children, Marcia Bryson Davies and her husband David of Robbinsville; Patricia Bryson Stanley and her husband Steve of Abbeville, SC; Russell Allen Bryson of Asheville; her grandchildren, Jake Scott Davies, Jenny Davies Weaver, Megan Stanley Burow, Lauren Stanley Windt and Danielle Bryson. Ms. Ferell also had 9 great grandchildren. Funeral Services will be held 3:00 PM Saturday, June 15, in the Chapel of Appalachian Funeral Services in Sylva with the Rev.Jeff Ramsland officiating. The family will receive friends from 2:00 until 3:00 pm prior to the service at the Funeral Home. Pallbearers are Jake Davies, Tom Burow, Paul Windt, Jeff Coggins, Steve Stanley and David Davies. Burial will follow in Cullowhee Baptist Church Cemetery. . .