Mary Alice O'Neal Foster

Mary Alice O'Neal Foster, age 95, of Atlanta died on April 10, 2011. She grew up on a farm in Loogootee, Indiana, the eldest of Anastasia Hopkins and James F. O'Neal's eight children. She graduated from Indiana State University, and began her teaching career in the same one-room primary school she had attended as a child. She moved to Gary, IN for a position as children's librarian at Horace Mann School, and subsequently earned her Masters degree in Library Science at Columbia University. As a librarian in several Gary schools she championed literacy and educational opportunity for children. In Indiana she was active in the Beta Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Kappa, a state philanthropic organization, and was a committed school, church, and community volunteer. After moving to Atlanta in 1987, she and her husband learned their way around their new home by serving for many years as volunteer drivers with Catholic Charities, providing transportation for many in need. She also volunteered through hospice and her church, and gave generously of her time and talent with family and friends. She was an avid and excellent bridge player, an accomplished seamstress, and loved travel, theater, gardening, cooking, and following the stock market. In her later years she relished being a story-teller and keeper of family history for her large extended family.She is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, Walter Foster, daughter Martha Foster of Atlanta, daughter Jean Foster and son-in-law James Howard of Palos Verdes, CA, and four grandchildren, David Berger, Emily Berger, Nathan Howard, and Abigail Howard. Also surviving are her brother Joseph O'Neal of Longport, NJ, and four sisters, Alma Walker and Anne O'Neal both of Loogootee, IN, Dorothy Norris of Indianapolis, IN, and Marjorie Reising of Kokomo, IN, sisters-in-law Lorraine O'Neal and Gloria O'Neal, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her infant sister Catherine O'Neal and by her brother Bernard O'Neal of Peachtree City, GA.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 14, 2011; interment, Arlington Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be given in her memory to the Alzheimer's Association of Georgia (41 Perimeter Center East, Suite 550, Atlanta, GA 30346) or to a public library of your choice. Visitation will be 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13 at A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home. Condolences online may be sent to astuner.com.


Funeral Home:
A. S. Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033