Mary Lynne Bayne's Obituary
Mary Lynne Bayne, who battled through paralysis caused by a stroke to lead a full active life, died Jan. 5 at The King’s Daughters and Sons Home in Memphis. The death was attributed to complications from a fall at home Nov. 15. She was 72.She was born in a log cabin in Pickett County, Tennessee, but her family was displaced by the rising waters of Dale Hollow Lake. The family moved to Putnam County, near Cookeville in the early 1940s. She attended public schools in Cookeville and graduated from Cookeville Central High School in 1959.She graduated from Tennessee Tech in 1963 and accepted a business education teaching position at Surrattsville High School in Maryland. She attended post-graduate studies at the University of Maryland and Memphis State University from which she received her certification in library science.She moved with her husband, William C. Bayne, to Memphis in 1970. They were married for more than 49 years.She was a school librarian at The Auburndale School in the 1980s. Following the stroke in 1987, she became a volunteer at the Bartlett library. In 2006 she was named Volunteer of the Year among the Public Library and Information Center’s 600 or so volunteers. She continued her volunteer work through Nov. 13.On Aug. 27, 1987 she had suffered a massive stroke which left her paralyzed. However, through an extensive rehabilitation program, she re-learned to speak, to walk and to drive a car. “She was a miracle person,” said Dr. James Wang, the neurologist who treated her following the November fall. “The (brain) damage was so great from the 1987 stroke that she should never have been able to walk, talk or do any of the things she did in life. Miracle people are special people,” he said.She had traveled extensively. She was a 50-stater, having completed visiting all of the states in 2012. She had also visited 11 foreign countries, with multiple trips to Canada, England, Scotland, and France. She was an avid reader, a movie buff, and a cook noted for her desserts, particularly cakes for special occasions.She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Memphis. She was the coordinating member of her bridge club, a group she had been with for 42 years. She was a member of the Stroke Club of Memphis. She also leaves two sons, William C. Bayne II of Austin, Texas, and Robert Lynn Bayne of Memphis; a sister, Brenda Dorsey of Shelton, Washington; four grandsons, Cooper Bayne and Campbell Bayne, both of Austin, and Brody Bayne and Hugh Bayne, both of Memphis, and two daughters-in-law, Lauren Greer Bayne of Austin and Ashley Hardin Bayne of Memphis. Memorial Park Funeral Home in Memphis has charge. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, with services at 10 a.m. Friday. Burial will be in Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to First United Methodist Church, the Friends of the Bartlett Library or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
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