Friends, it is with great sadness that I report the death of our beloved Mary Cartwright, of Nashville, TN on FEB 4th, one of the Grand Dames of the Daffodil World. Mary had been an ADS member since 1957 and was an Accredited Judge. She was also very active in the Middle TN Daff Soc and was a fixture of their show at Cheekwood. She always welcomed me to their show in Nashville, and just couldn’t have been nicer to me. She was a Southern Belle. We last saw Mary in 2008, when she came for a brief visit during the Fall Board Meeting and Symposium in Nashville. To know her was to love her. Mary, along with the other Nashville ladies, were known for their parties they held in their rooms (they would usually get several adjoining rooms), after an ADS Convention dinner. Being good Tennessee ladies, the featured libation was Jack Daniels. I have many fond memories of those legendary parties. 1976, the Bicentennial Year for the USA, saw many international dignitaries attend the ADS Convention, held in Philadelphia. I think that year was the greatest party the Nashville ladies ever hosted. The who’s who of the Daffodil World at that time, were present at that party. It was incredible. And Mary always seemed to be the nucleus of the hostesses from Nashville. Mary never seemed to age, I noticed… but I don’t know what her secret was. Dick Frank, of Nashville, phoned me this morning to report this very sad news. The service will be held on THURS FEB 10th in Nashville. An obituary has not yet appeared, apparently.
With much sorrow,
Jaydee Atkins Ager
ADS Executive Director