Mary Nelle Summers Hester

1922-2023

Mary Nelle Summers Hester, age 100, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 29 in

Opelika, AL. She was born to Carl and Mattie Will Summers on October 6, 1922, in Lee County, Alabama, on the family farm. Her father worked as a third generation farmer and her mother was a home economics teacher at Beulah School. She was raised on the farm with her older sister, Dorothy, and her younger brother, Carl, Jr. After graduating from Beulah High School, she attended Huntington College for one year and later transferred to Auburn University where she graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education.

After graduation, she journeyed to Vanport, Oregon, for one year to work as a caregiver for children of working mothers who were employed in the shipbuilding industry assisting with the war effort. She then returned to Auburn where she became the first director of the Child Development Center on campus for married couples. While at Auburn, she met an architecture student from Birmingham, Harry Hester, and they married in Lee County. They moved to Birmingham where she was active in the raising of four children. In the early 1980's, she returned to the family farm in Lee County where she has lived since.

Mary Nelle stayed active in Auburn United Methodist Church and community civic affairs until 2017 when a hip fracture made it impossible for her to drive on her own. Mentally alert and active, she enjoyed keeping abreast of current events in Washington & locally.

She leaves behind a daughter Martha Stagg (Jim) of Shelby, AL, two sons, Kenneth (Liz) Hester of Pensacola, FL & Wayne (Elizabeth) of Birmingham. She also leaves behind 5 grandchildren Allison Stagg (Mike), Mackenzie Stagg, Haley Knight

(Zachary), Summers Hester, Georgeann Hester & 2 great grandchildren. She is pre-deceased by her son Carl Hester, her parents Carl & Mattie Will Summers, her brother Carl Summers, Jr. & her sister, Dorothy Cooper.

The family would also like to extend heartfelt thanks to her caregivers Mary, Mae Ola, Veronica, Geraldine & Alicia for their loving care for the last four years.

A graveside service will be held Friday, September 1st @ 11:00 at Auburn Memorial Park Cemetery, 1000 East Samford Avenue, Auburn, AL.

Frederick-Dean Funeral Home is handling all arrangements.