MARTINSVILLE — In 1947, Mary Lee Wesner and her husband Eugene “Gene” Wesner were married and living in Indianapolis.
Gene was a farm kid from Greene County, and he knew that he could not continue to live in the big city, even though his engineering job at U.S. Rubber Co. — later known as Uniroyal — made it difficult to live too far away from his office.
Whenever Gene had extra time, he would travel out approximately an hour in all directions from the East Georgia Street manufacturing plant, looking for his forever home with his bride Mary Lee.
That journey took them to Green Township in Morgan County where they bought a farm house and raised four children — Judy, Cindy, Tim and Kip.
In addition to their regular jobs, they managed a family farm for more than 40 years. Gene’s life was cut short on March 13, 1989, at the age of 66, but Mary Lee is still making the most of each day, celebrating her 100th birthday on Oct. 21.
What a life that she has lived and what a community to be part of as she spent more than 75 years embedded in Martinsville!
Community roots
Mary Lee was the daughter of Methodist minister Rev. G.S. Sutton, so her childhood involved many moves from town to town throughout southern Indiana. She was born in Fredericksburg, but also lived in Henryville, Patriot, Hatfield and graduated high school from Newberry, which is where she met her husband, Gene.
Maybe because of how much she moved as a child, she really enjoyed forming solid roots in Martinsville and being an active part of the community. As a member of the First Methodist Church, she was also part of the Methodist Women’s group. Not only did she teach Sunday School, but she was also the Children’s Music Director for many years.
Her outreach to the community did not stop with those church activities. She worked at the polls on Election Day for more than 50 years and was recently pinned with 75 years of service with the Order of the Eastern Star.
She was also a member of the Welcome Wagon when Judy and Cindy were young, and she volunteered for Meals on Wheels when Tim and Kip were children. Throughout her entire life she has been a humble servant of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Her greatest involvement in Morgan County, however, was with Weekday Religious Education (WRE). WRE is a program that allows for release time in the public school for elementary age students to learn about the Bible off the school property.
The mission statement for Morgan County’s Weekday Religious Education is “we strive to enrich the spiritual lives of students in third and fourth grade. We provide a safe and welcoming environment where children can learn about the teachings of the Bible.”
Mary Lee was a teacher for WRE for 46 years. She would plan weekly lessons, help the children with memory verses and lead in singing. Each school year, the children would perform a program for their parents and the community at a nearby church showing all they had learned. Mary Lee took great pride in her WRE programs!
In addition to Mary Lee’s wonderful outreach skills, she also knows how to have fun! Gene and Mary Lee were involved in many enjoyable activities such as bowling leagues, card clubs and even a tennis match or two throughout their years of marriage. If you were ever lucky enough to see Mary Lee on water skis or riding the Scrambler at the county fair, you could certainly tell that she knew how to enjoy life!
Athletics obsession
Mary Lee is an avid sports fan. She is known for recording the Indiana Pacers (or Purdue basketball) on a Saturday night, while attending the Martinsville game locally, and then returning home to watch the recording before bed.
Attending sporting events of her favorite teams (Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Reds) and especially the Indy 500 brought her great pleasure.
Still yet, her passion for sports is best shown by her love of tennis. She would never miss one of the major tournaments and was happy to watch, even if she didn’t know who was playing. Her all-time favorite tennis players are Pete Sampras and Venus Williams.
Mary Lee’s love for her community and her passion for sports came together with the Artesians. She would rarely miss a home Martinsville basketball or football game. In fact, she was a season ticket holder for nearly 60 years.
Friday nights were date night as she and Gene had reserved seats in the Glenn Curtis Gym when Jerry Sichting played. After Gene’s passing, her good friend Helen Smith would travel with her to many of the away games.
When Martinsville basketball beat Gary Roosevelt in the Hall-of-Fame Classic at New Castle, she was there! As a true fan (win or lose), she was at Warren Central, when the Artesians lost to Jeff George in the 1984 semi-state championship football game. Then just two years later, she was quoted as saying “it is great to be a winner” when Martinsville won the opening game of sectional play at Castle in a rainstorm during the 1986 season.
This amazing fact encapsulates the type of fan that Mary Lee was for Martinsville: For 48 ½ years, she supported the Martinsville Artesians without having a family member as a part of any varsity team at the school.
From March 1969, when her daughter Judy cheered her final game as a senior cheerleader, until Sept. 1, 2017, when her grandson Craig played on special teams for a varsity football game, she kept her season ticket (most years as an all-sports ticket). She was just a fan of the kids (many were her WRE kids over the years), and she just wanted to support “her” community!
What a life she has lived! What a daughter, what a wife, what a friend, what a mother, what a grandmother, what a teacher, what a fan, and most importantly, what a servant of God!
