Obituary of Mary Branan

Mary Lee Burns Branan, born February 27, 1924, to Gladys Powers Burns and Roscoe Clegg Burns in Rosewood, NC, passed away on March 2, 2014 in Durham. The second of seven children, she is survived by her older sister Sarah Caine and younger sisters Gladys Holton, Frances Britt, and Dorothy Graham; children Lorie Branan Langan (Joe), Robert Branan (Karen); grandchildren Daniel Langan, Marianna Langan Peterson, Lauren Carrigan, Ellory Branan, and Robert Branan; and great-grandsons Joseph and Nathaniel Langan. She is predeceased by her parents, brother Robert Burns, sister Jean Spivey, and her husband of 44 years C. Frank Branan.

Her early life was spent in Wayne County where she attended Rosewood High School and graduated as valedictorian in 1942. She graduated from Flora MacDonald College in Red Springs, NC, taught home economics and worked as an NC home extension agent in Pender County. In 1948, she married Frank Branan, a young naval reserve officer and architect from Sanford, FL. Mary Lee and Frank spent the first years of their marriage in Norfolk, VA before moving to Daytona Beach, FL where Frank began a career as an architect and Mary Lee managed the cafeteria at Halifax High School. In Daytona Beach their two children Lorie and Bob were born.

In 1955, Mary Lee and Frank moved their family to Raleigh, NC where Mary Lee was actively involved in volunteer work including the Raleigh Garden Club, Aldert Root PTA, as a docent for the North Carolina Museum of Art, and a docent at the North Carolina Governor's Mansion. She returned to full time employment in 1972 as a District Supervisor for the NC School Food Service Division of the Department of Public Instruction. During that time, Mary Lee completed a Masters degree in School Administration from Pembroke University. She retired in 2002. She and Frank lived in Raleigh until Frank's death in 2004. In 2005, Mary Lee moved to Croasdaile Village in Durham.

Art, art history, music, architecture, historic preservation, gardening, literature, education, and travel were some of her many and varied interests. Her passion for travel was satisfied through trips throughout the US as well as international trips as a participant in the Friendship Force program, enabling her to experience life with families in France, the Soviet Union, and Australia. She thoroughly enjoyed joining her sisters in Cambridge, England to study literature at Cambridge University and travel in the UK.

She is fondly remembered as a woman of great intelligence and a devoted mother who instilled in her children a high regard for education, the importance of character and morals, the pursuit of excellence, and a love of natural beauty. Her example as a life-long learner continues to inspire her siblings, friends, children, and grandchildren.

The family wishes to express appreciation to the staff and volunteers of Croasdaile Village and Duke Hospice for their compassion and care.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at www.stjude.org or Duke Hospice at https://www.gifts.duke.edu/daa.

A Graveside Service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 5, 2015 at Montlawn Memorial Park, Chapel of Memories Mausoleum in Raleigh, NC.

The family will receive friends at Montlawn Funeral Home after the service to share in a light luncheon.

Arrangements are by Montlawn Funeral Home, 2911 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh, NC. Condolences can be made at www.montlawn.com