Mary Buckingham Wilson

Mary Buckingham Wilson, MD, died Sunday, June 23, 2013, at her home in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Her funeral services will be held in Grace Episcopal Church, Monday, July 1, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. The family will receive friends in Hanahan Hall immediately following the service. Interment, Old St. Andrew's Parish Churchyard. Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR, INC., DOWNTOWN CHAPEL.

Mary was born in November 26, 1946, the daughter of the late Dr. James Mazyck Wilson and Mary Scoggin Wilson. She grew up in Charleston and attended the Charleston Day School and Ashley Hall School. Although she lived with her parents on Legare Street for a time, her primary residence here in Charleston was 4 South Battery, later known as the Villa Margherita. She also attended Chatham Hall in Virginia and received a B.A. degree from Smith College in 1969.

Mary B. then entered the fine arts world. She studied in the Winterthur Program and obtained a Masters degree in Early American Culture in 1972. She then worked on her PhD at the University of Delaware in Art History. She spent a year in England, 1975, in the Attingham Parks Program studying English country houses. Finally she spent five to seven years in the Philadelphia area, working in the American decorative arts field.

The third phase of her life was in medicine. She attended MUSC, here in Charleston and got her MD degree in 1985. A residency in Pathology was next, also at MUSC, and then she did a year at Sloane Kettering in New York, in Oncologic Pathology, 1991 - 1992. Finally she joined the Pathology Department here at MUSC and was in charge of the Cytology section until 1999. Her father, a long-time Charleston OB-GYN, would have been proud of her medical career.

The last eight to ten years were probably the most fulfilling time of her life. Grace Episcopal Church became her real home where she flourished in so many ways. She was a major worker at Grace, helping in the kitchen as a Gracious Gourmet, loving the children's vacation Bible school, serving currently on the Vestry, just being present all the time. She also was a volunteer at the Crisis Ministry Center and at the Charleston County Library. The many good friends she made at Grace Church are the best testimony to her worth in this earthly life.

She is survived by her three first cousins: Dr.'s Robert, William, and Hugh Wilson and their children. We three are thankful for her life and particularly for Grace Church and we would direct memorial gifts to Grace Episcopal Church, 98 Wentworth Street, Charleston, SC 29401.