{"id":1178,"date":"2017-08-26T12:36:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-26T19:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2017-08-26T12:36:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-26T19:36:26","slug":"death-of-mary-elizabeth-bassett-morten-of-bassett-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/death-of-mary-elizabeth-bassett-morten-of-bassett-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Death of Mary Elizabeth Bassett Morten of Bassett, Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mary Elizabeth Bassett descends from #2B Thomas Bassett of Virginia as follows:<\/p>\n

Thomas Bassett (b. 1716) and wife Mary
\nWilliam Bassett (b. 1643)
\nThomas Bassett (b. 1668) and wife Elinor
\nThomas Bassett (b. 1696) and wife Lydia Howle
\nNathaniel Bassett (b. 1721) and wife Mary
\nBurwell Bassett (b. 1767) and wife Mary Hunter
\nAlexander Hunter Bassett (b. 1795) and wife Mary Koger
\nJohn Henry Bassett (b. 1827) and wife Nancy Jane Spencer
\nJohn David Bassett (b. 1866) and wife Pocahontas Hundley
\nWilliam McKinley Bassett (b. 1896) and wife Lela Gladys Clark
\nMary Elizabeth Bassett (b. 1924)<\/p>\n

Norris Funeral Services
\nMary Elizabeth Bassett Morten
\nAugust 10, 1924 \u2013 August 21, 2017<\/p>\n

Mary Elizabeth Bassett Morten, age 93, died on Monday, August 21, 2017 at home in Bassett, Virginia. She was born on August 10, 1924 in Martinsville, Virginia to William McKinley and Gladys (Clark) Bassett, and was the older of two daughters. She was married to the love of her life, Spencer Wood Morten, Jr., on June 11, 1949 in Bassett, Virginia. She was the mother to four, grandmother to nine, and great-grandmother to three.<\/p>\n

Mary Elizabeth\u2019s family and friends knew her to be kind, gentle\u2026 and generous. She was a devoted wife and Spencer\u2019s best friend. She was a loving mother, who cherished the company of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren until her end of days. Her friends knew her to be a gracious hostess and a tireless worker during her many volunteer assignments. Above all, she was a proud member of the Bassett family, and committed to honoring the legacies of her ancestors.<\/p>\n

Many will remember Mary Elizabeth for her investment of time and treasure to benefit Pocahontas Bassett Baptist Church, where she was married and raised her children. She was especially devoted to the church\u2019s music program: playing piano for the youth choir, hosting Christmas carolers, and gifting the current pipe organ. Certainly, her children remember the hours she practiced the piano at home to perfect whatever she was assigned to play in church.<\/p>\n

She will also be remembered for her treasured affiliations. She was a dedicated member of the Colonial Dames of America, and an unwavering patriot of her country. Above all, she loved the institutions where she grew from child to young woman. Mary Elizabeth\u2019s childhood friends knew how much she loved summers at Camp Alleghany. Her children knew how much she loved her four years at Saint Mary\u2019s School in Raleigh, and how proud she was to be a graduate of Hollins University in Virginia. One of her legacies will be the anecdotal history of her camp, boarding school, and college years, which she frequently shared with her children and grandchildren. In her last days, she especially loved to talk about her time at Saint Mary\u2019s.<\/p>\n

In 1950, she began a lifelong career as the mother of four, where she re-defined the meaning of hospitality coordinator. She celebrated her children\u2019s friends, who were welcomed to spend weekends at \u201cthe mountain,\u201d and even join family vacations. Now adults, many guests still recollect the countless joyful rides in Mary Elizabeth\u2019s station wagon, innumerable \u201ccountry boy\u201d breakfasts on Saturday mornings, and the carefree atmosphere she fostered at all times.<\/p>\n

She was a philanthropist: private education and scholarship were her paramount interests. It began with her commitment of time and energy as the first chairperson of the Carlisle fair in support of Martinsville\u2019s first private school, continued as chairwoman of the Virginia Episcopal School mother\u2019s association, and included service as a trustee of Averett University in Virginia. Her philanthropy primarily supported Saint Mary\u2019s School, Hollins University, and the Bassett Historical Center.<\/p>\n

Her husband, Spencer, preceded Mary Elizabeth in death. She is survived by four children; Sarah Fisher, Bill, Spencer and Greg; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. A memorial service is planned for 3:00 in the afternoon of Friday, September 22, 2017, at Pocahontas Bassett Baptist Church, 120 Bassett Heights Road, Bassett, Virginia. The family will greet family and friends in the church\u2019s fellowship hall on Friday from 1:00 pm until the time of service. There will be no graveside service.<\/p>\n

The family thanks Drs. Paul Eason, Ben Lewis, and Heidi Klepin for their exceptional medical oversight, the caregivers who helped her live life as fully as possible to her last day, as well as Perry Potter, Ophelia Norman and Flora Dulin for making her days comfortable and easy. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Mary Elizabeth\u2019s name to the Pocahontas Bassett Baptist Church in Bassett, Virginia.<\/p>\n

Norris Funeral Services, Inc. and Crematory, Martinsville, VA is serving the Morten family<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bassett Historical Center
\nMary Elizabeth Bassett Morten Collection<\/p>\n

Mary Elizabeth Bassett Morten is the daughter of the late William McKinley Bassett and Gladys Clark Bassett.\u00a0 She is the wife of Spencer Wood Morten, Jr. and they are still at home near Eltham where she lived prior to her marriage.\u00a0 She is a graduate of St. Mary’s College and Hollins College and her education included furniture manufacturing and business that surrounded her and her family.<\/p>\n

Mary Elizabeth grew up with a love of family and community and has always been a guiding influence in the many projects in which she believed.\u00a0 Her support of Pocahontas Bassett Baptist Church which was named in honor of her paternal grandmother, Pocahontas Hundley Bassett (Mrs. J.D. Bassett, Sr.), and her support of many organizations and community projects have been ongoing.<\/p>\n

Both her paternal grandmother and her mother were charter members of Bassett Garden Club, a tenacious group of ladies who were determined to see that the Bassett area possessed a library for the community to use.\u00a0 This was in 1949 when store rooms and an empty elementary school were used.\u00a0 In 1955, Mary Elizabeth’s father spearheaded a community drive for funds for Bassett Public Library to be built.\u00a0 In 1988, Mary Elizabeth herself spearheaded a community drive for an addition to Bassett Public Library, the building that now houses the Bassett Historical Center.\u00a0 With both of her parents being on the first Board of Trustees of the Library, Mary Elizabeth and her husband have also both served on the Board.\u00a0 Their son, Spencer III, is now serving on the current Board of the Historical Center.<\/p>\n

The Mary Elizabeth Bassett Morten Collection is now housed at the Bassett Historical Center, a collection that deals with 731 families that are based on fifty years of genealogical research.\u00a0 This collection is indexed and is accessible and appreciated by many patrons.\u00a0 We at the Bassett Historical Center thank Mary Elizabeth for her suggestions and expertise over the years, for the benefactor that she has been to the Center, and for her gracious support of our efforts in caring for the Center.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mary Elizabeth Bassett descends from #2B Thomas Bassett of Virginia as follows: Thomas Bassett (b. 1716) and wife Mary William Bassett (b. 1643) Thomas Bassett (b. 1668) and wife Elinor Thomas Bassett (b. 1696) and wife Lydia Howle Nathaniel Bassett … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1180,"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions\/1180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bassettbranches.org\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}