Mary Ellen Bradford Moser passed from this life to be forever with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. A graveside service will be 2:00 P.M., Sunday, April 11, 2021 at Memoryland Memorial Park with Rev. John Foster and Mr. Amos Lowery officiating. Visitation will be 1:00 P.M. to 1:45 P.M. on Sunday at Coker-Mathews Funeral Home.
She was born on December 8, 1924, in Russellville, Arkansas, to the parentage of Reverend James Robert Bradford and Edith Mae Collins Bradford.
Mary married her high school sweetheart, Preston Coburn Moser on June 20, 1946, in Greenville, Texas shortly after Preston returned from his service in the Navy during World War II. Mary and Preston celebrated their 74th wedding anniversary in June 2020; they were each other’s most trusted friend throughout their wedded lives.
Mrs. Moser and her husband Preston were members of Highland Terrace Baptist Church for the past sixty years. Mary served as Church secretary for the Washington Street Baptist Church (now Highland Terrace) for several years. She was active as a Sunday School teacher and Director of the Girl’s Auxiliary.
Mary Moser was a well-known artist in the area. She was invited to do a number of solo art shows at local venues in the area. Art galleries in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona handled her works sold to the public.
Mary had a gift for her creativity outside of the art world; she enjoyed gardening, by working on her gardens of roses, irises as well as her large vegetable garden. She enjoyed cooking and baking; when someone in her community or church was ill, Mary would be outside their front door with her signature banana bread.
Mary had a special talent for creating and designing clothing. A person could describe what they had in mind and she would create it, whether it was an evening gown or a suit without patterns or instructions. Her sewing for her two daughters Katherine and Karen as well as her granddaughter Elizabeth was prolific; she would create the latest fashions for them from birth through adulthood.
Mary found teaching her grandchildren, Thomas “Joe” and Elizabeth, how to paint, cook and garden, as one of her most profound pleasures.
Preceding her in death are her husband Preston, her parents and her brother, Jim R. Bradford.
Mary leaves her two daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren to cherish her memory.
They include her daughters Katherine Ellen Moser and husband Rick Cherwitz; daughter Karen Marie Moser Stokes and husband Harry Jackson Stokes; grandson Joe Derrington and wife Lacey Marie and granddaughter, Elizabeth Haden. Her great grandchildren include Preston Thomas, Skyler Marie and Clark Joseph Derrington.
Pallbearers will be Keith Moser and Thomas J. Derrington.
Honorary pallbearers will be Gene Martin, Harry Jackson Stokes, Rick Cherwitz and Ralph Moser.
