Memorial Garden
Mary Jane Davis Memorial Bible Garden
The Bible Garden, which had been conceived by Mary Jane Davis, was dedicated on June 18, 1989. The Session voted unanimously that it be named the “Mary Jane Diggs Davis Memorial Garden,’ with a bronze plaque to that effect. In 1990, the Session approved the sprinkling of ashes in the Bible Garden. Plaques with the names of those interred in the Bible Garden hang just inside the front door. The original plantings were indiguous to those found in the Holy Land.
The Outer Banks Presbyterian Church sets forth the following policies regarding the spreading of ashes in the Memorial Bible Garden.
Members of the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church, Kill Devil Hills, NC, their spouses and their children, ministers of the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church, former ministers of the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church, their spouses and their children shall be eligible to have their ashes sprinkled or scattered on the Bible Garden grounds.
The internment shall be limited to the spreading of ashes. Headstones, markers, and burial of containers are prohibited in the garden.
The Memorial rites will be in keeping with Presbyterian forms of worship and performed by the minister of the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church.
- A fee of $250, to be paid in advance, will cover the right to spread the ashes, placement of the deceased’s name on the Memorial Plaque located inside the church and care of the Bible Garden. The Buildings and Grounds Committee shall be responsible for ordering and placing the deceased’s name on the Memorial Plaque. The family shall be responsible for all other costs such as funeral home charges, cremation costs, etc.
- For purposes of clear understanding and agreement, the Outer Banks Presbyterian Church shall have full authority to move, remove, or relocate the Bible Garden if the Session of the church so determines to do so for any reason.
Those Who Rest in the Memorial Bible Garden
- William Ronald Stocker
(November 4, 1927 – March 25, 1990) - Rev. Peter Gwozdecki
(May 15, 1905 – September 18, 1991) - Robert Marshall Hawekotte
(October 9, 1903 – July 30, 1996) - Edward J. (Chick) Genther
(September 20, 1916 – October 9, 1996) - Olga Mischenko Gwozdecki
(March 25, 1911 – July 10, 1997) - Helen Genther
(February 9, 1912 – December 7, 1999) - Bernice Jane Gottschalk Roehner
(July 25, 1929 – March 22, 2002) - Arpad Vas
(October 3, 1919 – April 16, 2003) - Malcolm Chedsey Smith
(October 24, 1922 – June 25, 2004) - Daniel Gwozdecki
(May 25, 1941 – March 20, 2004) - Ritchie Buckingham
(November 27, 1919 – August 8, 2004) - Douglas Churchill Brown
(June 26, 1931 – December 18, 2005) - Virginia Albrecht
(July 10, 1923 – April 28, 2005) - Dawn M. Northen
(September 29, 1931 – August 31, 2007) - John (Jack) J. Dempsey
(August 17, 1935 – May 30, 2008) - William “Bill” Lee F. Albrecht
(May 18, 1923 – December 17, 2009) - Elizabeth G. Hawekotte
(November 25, 1918 – August 12, 2012) - Mary H. Vas
(December 10, 1922 – November 15, 2012) - Marjorie (Marge) F. Smith
(September 26, 1923 – January 30, 2013) - Stephen C. Brown
(January 25, 1961 – June 1, 2013) - Marlene Beavers Williamson
(May 24, 1931 – June 4, 2013) - Kathryn “Kathy” Louise Dempsey
(December 11, 1962 – January 25, 2014) - Leslie James “Jim” Basnight, Jr.
(February 17, 1938 – March 2, 2014) - Leah Renee Williamson
(July 23, 1970 – September 22, 2016) - Gary Allen Martie
(January 23, 1949 – August 5, 2017) - Judith “Judy” Ann Dempsey
(June 12, 1937 – April 21, 2020) - Gary McGee
(October 19, 1947-April 28, 2021)
