Funeral Card Friday...Mary Faudree Bean

Not truly a funeral card, but rather a laminated obituary offered to the family by the funeral home following the death of Mary Faudree Bean  [1897-1975]

It reads as follows:

Entered Into Eternal Res

Wednesday Jan. 1, 1975

Mary Bean's

Rites Slated

GAP MILLS (RNS) -

Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Bean, 77, died Wednesday in a Virginia hospital after a long illness.

Formerly of Waiteville she was born June 3, 1897, at Sweet Springs, a daughter of the late Steven and Katherine Carnifax.

She was a member of the New Zion Community Church.

Her husband, John, died in 1954.

Survivors include two sons, Walter of Gap Mills and Edsell of Keenan; one sister, Mrs. Zada Carter of Bumpuss, Va.; three step-sons, Emmett of Richland, Wash., Bill of Los Angeles, Calif., and Jack Ashley of Hinton; four step-daughters, Mrs. Audrey Harriff of Muncie, Ind., Mrs. Margaret Loper of Masurey, Ohio, Mrs. Rita Holland of Crab Orchard, and Mrs. Eleanor Ward of California, and two grandchildren.

Services will be at 1p.m. on Saturday at New Zion Church at Waiteville with Rev. Joe Larue and Rev. Sonny Wiseman in charge. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Friends may call at Broyles-McGuire Funeral Home in Union after 11 a.m. today and the body will be taken to the church one hour prior to services."

There are numerous errors in this report, and should some day a researcher use this for a source, they will be sorely lead down many wrong paths!

The first major error is the names of her parents.

Mary Elizabeth's maiden name was FAUDREE not Cornifax. Her father was Stephen Ledford FAUDREE and her mother was Elizabeth CARNIFIX.

She was, indeed a member of the New Zion Union Church in Waiteville. And her husband, John, did die in 1954.

Survivors did include Walter, and EDSEL, her two sons.

Mary's sister was VEDA CARTER [not Zada! although she did have a sister Zenna who predeceased her, but her married name was BAKER]. Veda lived in Bumpass, Virginia.

The remainder of the article is correct, except for the spelling of step-son Emmett. The correct spelling of his name was EMMETTE.

One can easily see where this article could lead researchers astray! And makes one wonder where the obituary originated from. Remember to check all sources before making conclusions!