Mary Alma Cole Parker

Mary Alma Cole Parker a resident Decatur, Georgia, and formerly a long-time resident of Charleston, South Carolina, died August 16, 2014. She was born September 4, 1932, in Memphis, Tennessee, the oldest child of Samuel Francis Cole and Mary Elizabeth Law Cole. She was a graduate of the Mississippi State College for Women (now Mississippi University for Women) in Columbus, Mississippi where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and classics. She received a Master of Arts degree from Rosary College (now Dominican University) in River Forest, Illinois. She was a teacher in elementary and high schools in Virginia, Illinois, Tennessee, and Georgia. She founded an operated St. Bede's Theological Library to assist men throughout the United States who were entering the Catholic priesthood. She was a talented textile artist, textile researcher and scholar, and collector of quilts. Many of her handmade quilts were selected for exhibitions both nationally and internationally through the years. She researched and wrote extensively about historical quilts and documented quilts and their makers in the southeastern United States, and enjoyed having her work published in a variety of textile and quilt journals and magazines. Her handmade quilts and those from her collection of antique and regionally historical quilts are now a part of the permanent collection of the Charleston Museum and regularly featured in the museum's textile displays. She was a member of the Cobblestone Quilter's Guild, South Carolina State Quilter's Guild, the American Quilt Study Group, the Rebecca Motte Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the South Carolina Historical Society, the American Philatelic Society, the Navy League, the Mariological Society of America, and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Survivors include her husband of 62 years, the Reverend James Parker, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, two daughters, Margaret Elizabeth Parker of Hapeville, Georgia and Clare Parker Butler of Decatur, Georgia, granddaughter, Katherine Veronica Butler of Decatur, Georgia, brother Samuel Francis Cole (Merrill Ann) of Memphis, Tennessee, Betty Cole Thompson (Charles) of McLean, Virginia, James P. Cole (Suzanne Henley) of Memphis, Tennessee, sister-in-law, Dorothy Parker (Alan Wiles) of Roswell, Georgia, nephews, Jonathan Cole (Paul Linxwiler) of Memphis Tennessee, David Cole of Arlington, Virginia, Trey Cole of Hong Kong, Cole Thompson (Marcela Rotela) of New York, New York, Shannon Thompson (Kristine) of Manasquan, New Jersey, Andrew Cole (Benson Wright) of Chicago, Illinois, nieces, Elizabeth Cole Goodrich (Mike) and Molly Cole of Birmingham, Alabama, Priscilla Johnson (Vern) of Alpharetta, GA; Melissa Anderson (Scott), and Diana Lokey (Scott) of Cumming, Georgia. She was predeceased by her parents, son-in-law, Todd Butler and nephew, Owen Thompson. The relatives and friends of Reverend and Mrs. James Parker are invited to attend her Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 AM, Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at St. Joseph Catholic Church. The Rite of Committal will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery. A reception will follow at St. Joseph's Family Life Center. The family will receive friends from 6:00 until 8:00 PM, Monday, August 25, at the James A. McAlister Funeral Home, 1620 Savannah Highway. Online condolences may be offered at JamesAMcAlister.com, or written condolences may be sent to Rev. Parker at PO Box 177, Decatur, Georgia 30031. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to The Charleston Museum c/o Textile Collection, 360 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403 or Make-A-Wish America, 4742 N. 24th Street, Suite 400 Phoenix, AZ 85016.