Mary Bennett “Bea” Little passed away peacefully Thursday, April 6, 2017, at home in Wadesboro, North Carolina, in the care of Anson County Hospice.
She was the daughter of the late Rosa Leak Parsons of Rockingham, North Carolina, and the late Robert Eugene Little Jr., a former North Carolina state senator and trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Bea attended St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia. She received her Bachelor of Science in horticulture from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and her masters in horticulture from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
Bea was preceded in death by her siblings Rosa Parsons Little Porter of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Robert Eugene Little III, of Wadesboro.
She is survived by her niece Anne Bennett Little (Douglas Robert McCafferty) of San Jose, California, and her nephew Walter Leake Parsons Little and his son Andrew Bennett Davidson Little both of San Francisco, California.
Bea began her teaching career in the Houston public school system. She later moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where she initially taught science at Azalea Gardens Junior High School before starting the horticulture program for Gramby High School. Several of her students became professional horticulturists working at Longview Gardens in Philadelphia, and Dumbarton Oaks and the White House both in Washington, D.C.
Although Bea returned home (North Carolina) to care for her mother who experienced an extended illness, she pursued her love of horticulture and advanced the practice of Bonsai, the Japanese art of growing trees in containers in small containers by pruning the crown and roots. Her research and specialty was “indoor” bonsai, for which she was published in several professional journals. Bea was active with the Charlotte and North Carolina statewide chapters of the National Bonsai Society of America. She traveled with the group to California and Japan to work with bonsai master John Naka, participating in regional juried shows and appearing in national peer-reviewed journals.
In addition to horticulture, Bea was an active volunteer in the Wadesboro community and the Calvary Episcopal Church Altar Guild. She was a board member of the Anson County Historical Society, Hospice of Anson County, the Anson County Library, the Wadesboro Garden Club, and a member of the North Carolina Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
Bea was also a generous benefactor of many arts and humanitarian organizations. Bea lived a full and vibrant life, and is remembered for her love of plants, birds and wildlife. Few could escape the experience of her kind spirit, quick wit and wonderfully dry sense of humor. She was a tireless volunteer in many environmental and animal causes, as well as the educational advancement of talented young people. Her niece and nephew have grand memories of field trips through local forests hunting native wildflowers, spotting birds, and assisting in her many gardens.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Mary Bennett’s name to one of the following organizations: Hospice of Anson County, the Anson County Animal Shelter in Polkton, North Carolina, or Calvary Episcopal Church in Wadesboro.
Services were held at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 13, at Calvary Episcopal Church in Wadesboro.
The Clayton Tribune, April 27, 2017