Mary Pelts Coburn
August 15, 2023
Mary Pelts Coburn, 93, passed away peacefully at her home in Acworth, Georgia on August 15, 2023. She was born on February 22, 1930, the youngest of eight children to Anna and Joseph Peltz of Maybeury, WV. She was affectionately nicknamed “Toots” by her older siblings – a nickname that stuck.
She married her high school sweetheart, Curtis Coburn, on August 30, 1952 and they moved to Charleston, WV where she began working for WCHS. When her husband’s job with Union Carbide moved them to Texas, back to West Virginia, to New York and back to WV again she focused on raising their three daughters.During that time, she volunteered with the Altar Guild, the Girl Scouts, was an avid bridge player and baked for every bake sale that came along. She went back to work in the personnel department at Bloomingdales in Stamford, CT when her daughters were in middle school.
When Curt was transferred back to WV, Mary began working for WVU Health Sciences Center and the Institute for Health Policy, volunteered at the Manna Meal food pantry in Charleston, as well as the Altar Guild at St. John’s Episcopal Church. She moved to Acworth, GA in 2015 where she joined several bridge groups, the knitting group at St James Episcopal Church and volunteered to cook meals for the residents of The Extension, an addiction recovery center. She loved gathering on her front porch with her friends, was an avid reader, a sports fan (especially college football, basketball and professional tennis) and will always be famous for the carrot cakes she baked for her friends.
She was loved and cherished by her daughters Betty Coburn Ball (Tom) of Rowayton, CT, Julie Coburn Swick (Michael) of Acworth, GA and Mary Catherine Coburn Dyke (David) of Westminster, MD; her grandchildren Caroline Ball Swiatocha (Travis), Suzanne Coburn Ball, Curtis Hutton Dyke; and two great grandchildren, Thomas Lowell Swiatocha and Charles Hudson Swiatocha; along with many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, C. Curtis Coburn, her granddaughter Allison Haley Dyke and by her brothers and sisters: Mike Peltz, Anna Peltz Lenosky, Andrew Peltz, Emma Peltz Lavin, Julia Peltz Holstein, Peter Pelts and Nicholas Peltz.
A memorial service will be held at St. James Episcopal Church, Marietta, Georgia on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 2pm followed by a reception. Mary’s ashes will be placed in the columbarium at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Charleston, WV next to her husband at a date to be announced.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to The Extension in Marietta, GA (theextension.org) or to Manna Meal in Charleston, WV (mannameal.org).
