Mary Christine Otway

Mary Christine Erickson Otway, 111, died at Chestatee Regional Hospital on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 1, after a period of declining health. She was born in Thompsonville, Michigan, on April 4, 1903, and spent her childhood there before the family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Mary became a teacher in a one-room school in the Ozark Mountains. Mary met her husband Frank in New York City and joined him in modeling for the John Robert Powers Agency. They raised their three children in Wilton, Connecticut, and afterwards Mary helped in Frank's successful office in Manhattan, designing business interiors. Mary was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Frank Sawford Otway Jr., and son Frank Sawford Otway III, Woodstock, GA. She and husband Frank moved to Dahlonega in July 1985, and they both enjoyed their newfound hometown. Mary survived Frank more than 24 years. She frequently mentioned with appreciation the kind treatment by personnel at Gold City Convalescent Center, the attentiveness of the Lumpkin County Emergency Medical Technicians, and the work of local physical therapists. Over the years, Mary enjoyed riding the community dial-up bus service, eating rainbow trout and chocolate turtle candy on the Town Square, and patronizing a local grocer who selected choice cuts of beef for her. Living on her own until age 104, she maintained a rare and ready wit. Nearing the one century mark, she said with a gleam in her eye, "My doctor says that I have the body of an 85-year-old." At her 100th birthday celebration, when Dahlonega businessman Tony Owens asked the secret to long life, Mary quipped without hesitation, "Oh, that's easy. You just wake up every morning!" Survivors include two daughters, Beth Crawford, Pointe-Claire, Quebec; Gini Otway, New York, New York; five grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. A celebration of Mary's life will be held Sunday, November 16, 2014 from 2:00 - 4:00 PM at the Community Center on N. Park Street in Dahlonega, GA next to St. Luke's Catholic Church. In keeping with her wishes, Mary's ashes will be set in a flower garden next spring. Arrangements by McDonald and Son Funeral Home, 150 Sawnee Drive, Cumming, GA 30040 (770) 886.9899