Mary Oehmig
Mary Augusta King Oehmig, nearly 86 years of age, died peacefully on Friday evening, January 11, 2008, at her home on Lookout Mountain.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Lewis West Oehmig, who died on September 25, 2002.
Mary Oehmig, frequently known as “Mother Mary,” was much devoted to her family and friends during her long and special life.
Born February 21, 1922, to Henry and Kate Cox King in Murfreesboro, the family soon moved to Chattanooga to pursue business interests in the wholesale grocery industry. Henry King’s grocer business evolved into Fleetwood Coffee Company, Chattanooga’s first and foremost coffee roasting and marketing company. The enterprise was located at the intersection of East 11th Street, and what would later be named “King Street” in honor of Mr. King.
The coffee company for decades poured a luscious aroma of roasting coffee throughout downtown Chattanooga. Mary Oehmig was educated at the Girls’ Preparatory School, Fairmont College in Washington, D.C., Sweetbriar College in Virginia, and took her B.A. degree from the University of Chattanooga.
During World War II, she was employed at Harvard Univerity as an administrative assistant. She returned to Chattanooga after the war and soon married Lewis W. Oehmig, a young executive, U.S. Navy hero, and noted amateur golfer. Mary and Lew had many friends around the country and around the world. As Lew’s most devoted fan, they would travel extensively with friends to play in golf tournaments.
Mary wore with more than a little pride the three USGA Senior Amateur gold medals her “Sweet Lew” had won, the most of any senior amateur golfer in America. As the only person to have this honor, Mary was never shy about wearing her medals displaying how she was Lew’s biggest and most loyal fan.
Mary Oehmig served the community she so loved in many ways. From volunteer work at Memorial Hospital, to her service on the boards of the Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter, and the Altar Guild of the Church of the Good Shepherd, she improved the place she lived while making many friends in the process.
She was proud of her membership in the Lookout Mountain Garden Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Episcopal Church, Lookout Mountain Golf Club, and the Chattanooga Golf and County Club.
In her latter years, she was the beneficiary of excellent medical care from Dr. Bill Moore Smith and his staff, as well her kind and wonderful caretakers, Deborah Curtis, Sheila Peterman, Renee Ledford, Brenda Higdon, and Karen Blevins.
She is survived by her two sons, West and King, and their respective wives, Regina Matthews and Margaret Davenport, as well as six grandchildren, Lewis West Oehmig III, Neil Matthews Oehmig, William McRedmond King Oehmig, Mary Frances Christine Oehmig, Henry King Oehmig, Jr., and John Davenport Oehmig.
Mary Oehmig was one of four sisters, all young doyennes of the 1940s and 1950s. She was preceded in death by her sisters, Tallulah McGee McCall and Kate Orme Efurd. She is survived by Henrietta Sies of Lookout Mountain.
The Service for the Burial of the Dead will be celebrated by the Rev. Dex Bender on Tuesday, at 4 p.m. at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Lookout Mountain. Internment will follow in the Harriett Caldwell Memorial Garden.
Visitation with the family will be in the parish hall of Good Shepherd at 3 p.m.
Contributions can be made to the Lew Oehmig Golf Endowment at Baylor School, 171 Baylor School Road, Chattanooga, Tn. 37405, or to the Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter, 315 Gillespie Road, Chattanooga, Tn. 37411.