A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, May 16, 2015 at Bethel Baptist Church in Newton, MS for Mrs. Mary Frances Grant Mason, 89, of Newton, who died Thursday, May 14, 2015. Dr. F. David Rives will officiate. Visitation will be held Friday, May 15, 2015 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Newton County Funeral Home - North in Newton, MS.

Mrs. Mason was born and raised in Sylvarena, MS, the eighth of thirteen children. She graduated from Sylvarena School and then attended Clarke Memorial College on a basketball scholarship. While there she was voted Most Beautiful and Most Athletic. Upon graduation she taught first grade at Carmichael, MS. She then met and married Harold Bentley Mason of Newton, a WWII Veteran. She and her husband went on to operate a dairy farm in Newton. Later on she was employed and retired from La-Z-Boy Chair Company.
Mrs. Mason was a skilled seamstress, an outstanding cook, very active in her church and a friend to many. According to her late husband she was the epitome of the virtuous woman described in Proverbs 31.

Preceded in death by: parents Willis Cleveland and Winnie Mae Sullivan Grant; husband Harold Bentley Mason; son John Harold Mason; brothers: Edgar Travis Grant, William Fred Grant, Jeff Miley Grant, Willis Marx Grant, John Walter Grant, James Harry Grant, Sam Henry Grant, and Warren Ellis Grant.

Survived by: daughters: Karen Sue Bush, Laurel, MS, and Mary Elizabeth Mason, Newton, MS; daughter-in-law Patricia Gallagher Mason; grandchildren: Karen Christina Howell (John), Brian Eugene Maske (Meredith), Amanda Suzanne Kennedy (Grant), Casey Ray Noble (Brittany); Great- grandchildren: Emma Katherine Kennedy, Cooper Grant Kennedy, Bentley Hartwell Raiford, Laney Jo Bowen, Levi Tanner Bowen, Grayson Philip Kennedy, Avery Rae Noble and John Burley Howell, IV; sisters: Hilda Bess Bowden, Julia Lynette Fraser, Jo Ann Bucklew; brother Tommy Bridges Grant and a host of nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations may be made to Bethel Baptist Church, 4150 Bethel Roberts Rd, Newton, MS.

Newton County Funeral Home - North is in charge of arrangements, (601)635-3200. Friends and family may sign an online guest book at www.newtoncountyfuneralhome.com.