Mary (Jordan) Willbanks

Mary Jordan Willbanks, Memphis resident and aunt of Ann Kirk of the Oakland Community died Wednesday evening, October 31, 2012 at the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis where she had been a patient for three days. She was 98 years of age and died following an extended illness.

At the request of Mrs. Willbanks, there will be a private interment at the Ebenezer Cemetery in Cullman, Alabama. Arrangements were provided by Peebles Fayette County Funeral Homes & Cremation Center — West Chapel at Oakland.

Mrs. Willbanks was born July 2, 1914 in Cullman, Alabama. She received her education in the Alabama Public School System and was the wife of the late Daniel Willbanks, who was associated with the Alabama steel manufacturing industry before his death.

Mrs. Willbanks was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ and was a resident of Cullman before moving to the Memphis area twenty years ago to be near her son after the death of her husband. She was preceded in death by her son, Daniel Ray Willbanks, a professor at the University of Memphis before his death. She will be remembered as a family-oriented person who had a great love for animals and nature.

Mrs. Willbanks is survived by two nieces, Ann Kirk and her husband, Gordon of Oakland and Carol Willbanks Cobb and her husband, Wallace of Statesboro, GA.

The family requests that memorials be directed to the Fayette County Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 44, Rossville, TN 38066 or the Humane Society of Memphis, 935 Farm Road, Memphis, TN 38134.