Mary Louise Houseman

Mary Louise (Dyson) Houseman, 77, of Lynchburg, VA passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, March 1, 2023, at her residence. Mary was born on January 14, 1946, in Hermanville, MD to the late Mary Lillian (Washington) Dyson and John William Dyson. She was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses on October 31, 1959, and was a member of the West Lynchburg, VA Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses since moving to Lynchburg in 2019. Previously, Mary was a member of the Christiansburg, VA congregation for 45 years and her hometown congregation was in Lexington Park, MD. Mary retired from Stellar One Bank in Christiansburg, formerly known as First National Bank of Christiansburg (FNB), where she worked for 35 years. In addition to her parents, Mary was preceded in death by her grandparents, Wilson & Mary “Mamie” Washington, and Joseph & Ann Dyson; along with her siblings, Mamie Rebecca Dyson and Joseph Edward “Popeye” Dyson.

Mary is survived by her husband of 49 years, Thomas Houseman; her daughter, Rachel Wheaton and husband, Joseph; granddaughters, Jasmine, Ivy and Aeris Wheaton; her sister, Margaret (Dyson) White; brothers-in-law, Michael Houseman (Lori) and Nicholas Houseman (Debbie); sister-in-law, Marybeth Richards (Tom) and Jessica Houseman; and a host of loving and cherished relatives including an aunt and uncle, cousins, nieces and nephews; and many spiritual brothers and sisters in the faith and friends.

Mary always had a beautiful smile and a twinkle in her eye. She loved her family, her friends, her flowers, and especially sharing her love for the Bible, Jesus Christ, God’s Kingdom and above all, her love for our wonderful God, Jehovah. Throughout her life, Mary devoted countless hours in the door-to-door ministry to teach others about God’s promises from the Bible so that they could have the same comfort, hope and knowledge that she received from the Scriptures. She was a devoted and hard-working wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. Mary never knew a stranger and had a kind heart, a giving and generous spirit to anyone in need, and gave everything that she had to help her family and friends. She always said, “Let me do what I can now, because one day when I can’t, you’ll know that I did all I could.” Mary taught her family to work first, play later and never stop until the job was done. Her kindness, faithfulness, generosity, and zest for life lives on in everyone who knew her.

A Celebration of Mary’s life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses 319 Wiggington Rd., Lynchburg, VA. A visitation with the family will be held one hour prior to the service.

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family.