Mary Blackwood

Mary Johnson Blackwood, 94, passed away peacefully on October 30, 2020. She was born on March 26, 1926, in Nashville, Tennessee to David Morrison Johnson and Della Mae Drake Johnson. Mary had a remarkable and long life, overcoming polio as a child and adolescent, dancing with GI's as a teenager during WWII, marrying her beloved William Blackwood in 1949, and raising four children.

Mary is survived by her daughters, Susan Blackwood Reynolds and Ann Sheffield Blackwood; grandchildren Arran Drake Reynolds, Mary Rachel Reynolds, Allison McCarthy-Jafar, and Michael McCarthy; three great-grandchildren Ella, Rose, and John Charles; sons-in-law Dennis McCarthy and Harold Reynolds; and daughter-in-law Wimberly Blackwood. Mary was preceded in death by her husband, William Blackwood; daughter, Sarah Blackwood McCarthy; and son, Charles William Blackwood.

Mary and William lived in Scotland and Belgium when the children were growing, and they traveled throughout Europe. Gulf Breeze was their hometown for decades, where Mary pursued her love of art as a portrait artist, worked as a librarian at the Gulf Breeze Library, was in the choir at the Gulf Breeze Presbyterian Church, a volunteer at the Gulf Breeze Hospital, and she swam regularly even well into her 90s. Most of all, she was truly loved by all, and family and friends will cherish her always.