Mary Ann Davis Bishop, of Selma, passed away at noon on January 11, 2016, at the age of 95.

Mary Ann was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and elementary school teacher. She was born to Joseph Scott Davis and Ollie White Davis on November 22, 1920, on the Davis family farm near Wartrace, Tennessee.

After graduating from Wartrace High School, Mary Ann attended Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, obtaining a teaching certificate. It was there she met Reuben Bishop. They were married in 1942. She began her lifelong vocation teaching in a one-room school, grades 1-8, a short train ride from Wartrace. A year later she was transferred to Wartrace Elementary School. Following the end of World War II, Mary Ann moved to Selma where she taught the next 21 years at Byrd Elementary School.

Because Mary Ann began teaching in Selma with an “emergency teaching certificate” it was necessary for her to spend many of the following summers returning to Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Alabama, ultimately graduating with a degree in Elementary Education from the University of Alabama in 1965.

As a wife, she supported her husband’s interest in music and in the Selma Community Concert Association. Together they served as lifelong members of First Baptist Church. As a mother, she dedicated her energy to rearing two sons, making sure they received the necessary education to pursue excellence in their lives. Her love for her grandchildren was profound and influential, always keeping up with interest in their lives, education, marriages and families. One of her greatest feelings of accomplishment in later life was following the adult lives of her previous fourth grade students at Byrd School.

Mary Ann Bishop wove a fabric of love, kind-hearted support and encouragement that draped the lives of many of Selma’s residents. Her demonstration of determination and her generous and keen sense of humor were reflected in her family and myriad friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Reuben Bishop; parents, Scott and Ollie Davis; sister, Margaret Davis Claxton; and brothers, Richard Davis, Thomas Davis and George Davis.

Surviving are her two sons, William “Billy” (Katherine) and Richard (Sandra); six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Graveside services will be Friday, Jan. 15, at 11:45 a.m. in New Live Oak Cemetery with Dr. Jerry Light officiating and Lawrence Brown-Service Funeral Home directing. The family will receive friends at the funeral home between 10:30 – 11:30 a.m., prior to the graveside service.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the American Red Cross, PO Box 37839, Boone, IA 50037-0839 or the First Baptist Church of Selma Adult Choir; 218 Lauderdale St, Selma, AL 36701.

You may visit www.LawrenceBrownService.com to offer the family condolences and sign the electronic guest registry.