Mary Letitia Gregg Loeb
EADS, TN - Mary Letitia Gregg Loeb departed this life on Monday, April 11, 2022. She was 92.
Mary was a lifelong Episcopalian and served in various capacities at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Memphis and on the Vestry of The Church of the Good Shepherd in Forrest City, Arkansas. She was an avid gardener, landscaper, reader of fine books, culinary master, and nature enthusiast. She loved being outdoors with her ever-present assortment of dogs, horses and other pets. She was a talented equestrian with much knowledge and appreciation of a fine horse.
Mary attended Lausanne School in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Mary’s Hall in San Antonio, Texas, and Memphis State.
She was an emeritus member of the Junior League of Memphis. She served as the Memphis Cotton Carnival Queen in 1950.
In 2004, family and friends created an animal welfare fund to honor the tireless animal rescue work she had done during her years in Eastern Arkansas. The fund is managed by the Arkansas Community Foundation.
Mary was born on November 10, 1929, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Irene Calhoun Gregg and Russell Cravens Gregg. She had three sisters-- Frances Petersmeyer, Emily Gregg Prichard, and Nancy Gregg Lewis-- who predeceased her.
In 1950 she married Henry Loeb III of Memphis and they had three children. Mary and Henry, a former Memphis mayor, resided in Memphis for many years. In the 1970s they moved to a farm in Eastern Arkansas on Crowley’s Ridge near Forrest City.
She leaves three children: Henry Gregg Loeb of Marco Island, Florida, Thomas Calhoun Loeb (Elizabeth) of Eads, Tennessee, and Elizabeth “Didi” Loeb Mackenzie of Flower Mound, Texas. She also leaves two grandchildren, Mary Lauren Marelle (Joey) of Germantown, Tennessee, and Thomas Spencer Loeb of Memphis, and one great grandchild, Joseph Noah Marelle, and host of beloved nieces, nephews and dear friends both young and old. She also leaves a special niece, Irene Prichard-brown whose kindness and care will never be forgotten.
There will be a graveside service on Friday, April 22, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. at Memorial Park Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Avenue in Memphis. A gathering of family and friends will follow at the home of Thomas and Elizabeth Loeb in Eads, Tennessee.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to the Mary Gregg Loeb Animal Welfare Endowment Fund (arcf.org or via the St Francis County Community Foundation, P.O. Box 3002, Forrest City, Arkansas, 72336) or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.