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2023 SESSION
WHEREAS, Mary Elizabeth Baker Stuart, a vibrant member of the Abingdon community and a beloved mother and grandmother, died on January 13, 2023; and
WHEREAS, born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Mary Stuart lived in Huntsville, Tennessee, in her youth, then graduated from what is now the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, going on to attend the University of Tennessee; after her father, the Honorable Howard H. Baker, was elected to the United States House of Representatives, she moved to Washington, D.C., with her family; and
WHEREAS, Mary Stuart worked as a professional model and was a former Miss Tennessee, appearing at the National Cherry Blossom Festival in 1951; and
WHEREAS, Mary Stuart married the late Honorable William C. Wampler, Sr., in 1953 and the couple moved to Bristol in 1956; she became an active member of the community through the Border Guild of Bristol, now the Junior League, the Child Study Club, and the Hill and Dale Garden Club, and she worked with the 9th District Republican Party while her husband served in the United States House of Representatives; and
WHEREAS, in 1977, Mary Stuart remarried to G.R.C. Stuart and settled in Abingdon, where she hosted countless events and home and garden tours at her historic home which was named “The Bank” as part of the building used to be a commercial bank; and
WHEREAS, Mary Stuart was a patron of the arts, who helped create the Vaten School of Crafts in Bristol, and served on the founding board of the William King Museum of Art and the board of historic White’s Mill in Abingdon; she also helped preserve the heritage of the region as a member of the Washington County Historical Society; and
WHEREAS, in the late 1980s, Mary Stuart proudly campaigned for her son, the Honorable William C. Wampler, Jr., who ultimately served in the Senate of Virginia from 1988 to 2012; and
WHEREAS, Mary Stuart enjoyed fellowship and worship with the Bristol community as a member of Central Presbyterian Church, where she taught Sunday school, and with the Abingdon community as a member of Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church; and
WHEREAS, Mary Stuart will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by her children, Barbara and William Jr., and their families; her stepdaughters, Lane and Ellen, and their families; and numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Mary Elizabeth Baker Stuart; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Mary Elizabeth Baker Stuart as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for her memory.