I lost track of "Aunt Mary" after an unexpected divorce took her out of my life. She really was the aunt of my kid's dad, and during the time he and I were married, we often had wonderful Sunday visits with her and her kids, Mary Ann, Carolyn and Sandy in Santa Monica, who of course were my ex-husband's cousins. All the Kirkpatrick relatives had houses that were overflowing with warm southern hospitality and big Sunday dinners. Aunt Mary often hosted them, and a great hostess she was. I liked Aunt Mary a lot.
I suppose in the aftermath of our divorce my husband took our kids on occasion to visit with Aunt Mary et al, but I never saw her after 1971.
In June of 1986 I received in the mail from my ex-husband a copy of a Chattanooga, Tennessee article that spoke of the death of Aunt Mary:
CALIFORNIA CRASH KILLS FORMER RESIDENT MRS. KIRKPATRICK
South Pittsburg, Tenn. - Mrs. Mary Corder Kirkpatrick, 73, a former resident of South Pittsburg, was one of those killed last week in Walker, California aboard a tour bus.
The bus, carrying residents of a Santa Monica retirement home back from an outing to Reno, Nevada, ran off a mountain road at a reported high rate of speed and plunged into a river.
Mrs. Kirkpatrick was raised in South Pittsburg, but had not lived there for several years, according to officials with Rogers Funeral Home, who made the announcement.
She was the daughter of the late Will and Nomey Tice Corder and the widow of Jere Kirkpatrick.
Survivors include a son, Sandy Kirkpatrick; two daughters, Mary Ann Langford and Carolyn Erickson, all of Santa Monica; sister, Mable Bruce, Decatur, Ala.; six grandsons; one granddaughter; and several nieces and nephews.
Services will be held Friday in California. Graveside services will be held at 3:30 p.m., CDT Saturday in Cumberland View Cemetery, Kimball, Tenn., with the Rev. Ray Chism officiating.
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