Mary Lou Heard Boutwell

August 30, 2017

Mary Lou Heard Boutwell, 85, of Climax, Ga., passed away Wednesday, August 30, 2017.

The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, September 1, 2017, at New Home No. 2 Free Will Baptist Church with Rev. Conrad Salter and Rev. Jimmy Hooks officiating. Interment will follow at New Home No. 2 Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery with the grandchildren serving as active pallbearers. Wayne Scott, Don Sadler, Howard Scarbrough and Bud Glover will serve as honorary pallbearers.

The family will receive friends from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 31, 2017, at Ivey Funeral Home. Online visitors may sign the guest register at

www.iveyfuneral.com. Memorial donations may be made to: New Home No. 2 Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, c/o Wayne Scott, 1034 Salem Church Rd, Climax, GA 39834.

Mary Lou Heard was born December 29, 1931, in Climax, the daughter of John Isom Heard and Mattie Lou Darley Heard. She was a lifelong resident of Decatur County and a member of New Home No. 2 Free Will Baptist Church.

Described by her family as a wonderful wife and loving mother, Mary Lou tended her home. She was a seamstress so everything from new dresses to darning socks was covered. She made sure you were fed when you visited and no one ever complained about what she offered because she could make anything taste good. Mary Lou was active in her church where she served as a Sunday School teacher for many years. She also enjoyed listening to and singing gospel music. She kept up with the comings and goings of her family and friends via the telephone. Some would say Mary Lou kept the lines hot.

Survivors include her daughters, Belinda Boutwell Cumbie, Donna Boutwell and her husband, Stan Coyle, all of Climax, and Teresa Boutwell Henry and her husband, Mike, of Colquitt; her eleven grandchildren; her nineteen great-grandchildren; her one-great-great-grandchild; and her beloved dog, Sissy. Mary Lou was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, John Paul Boutwell; her daughter, Janice Boutwell Miles; her siblings, Cecil Heard, Curtis Heard, Jack Heard, Joe Heard, Everett Heard, Ed Heard and Lessie Snipes; and her great-grandson, Brandon Dean Hornsby.