Mary Catherine Drury

Mary Catherine (Cay) Drury of Winston-Salem, NC (formerly of Bethesda, MD and Davenport, IA) passed away peacefully on December 13, 2023, at the Kate B. Reynolds Hospice Home. She was 100 years old.

Cay embraced life, from her youth as her high school’s jitterbug queen to her early training as a concert pianist to her extensive travels, both in the U.S. and internationally. She loved the beach and surrounded herself with artwork that reflected that love. Her avid interest in art and music led her family and friends to value and enjoy them as much as she did.

Anyone lucky enough to know Cay well looked forward to her monthly e-mails, announcing birthdays, anniversaries, and other notable events for virtually everyone she knew. She kept track of graduations, awards, and babies, joyfully announcing them to her online fans. She continued this tradition up to the beginning of December 2023, never missing a month. Even before her retirement from her long career at the Landon School in Bethesda, MD, no birthday, Christmas, or wedding was complete without a thoughtful, handwritten card from Cay.

Cay’s grandfather, William Tyler Page, was the 28th Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and was the author of the American’s Creed. Cay was a member of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was proud that DAR chapters across the country read the Creed at the start of every meeting. Her great-great-grandfather was President John Tyler and she was a distant relative of Carter Braxton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

She was the beloved mother of nine. She was preceded in death by Joanne Page Bell and Barbara Anne Bell and is survived by Kathleen Bell, Leslie (Sara) Bell, Thomas (Sam Rose) Bell, Gordon (Liya) Bell, Tyler (Jane Kostenko) Bell, Eleanor Bell (Bret) Fiege, and Jane Bell (Kenneth) Broadwater, as well as eight grandchildren, and one great grandchild.

A celebration of her life will be held on February 14, Cay’s birthday, at the Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home, 3315 Silas Creek Parkway, in Winston-Salem. The family will receive visitors at 1:00 pm and the service will start at 2:00 pm. Family and friends will gather after the ceremony at the Courtyard Winston-Salem Hanes Mall, 1600 Westbrook Plaza Drive, Winston-Salem.

Cay loved bright colors and flowers so the family would be honored if those who knew and loved her wore their brightest colors and floral prints to her service or in her honor on February 14. If Cay’s friends and family would like to make a charitable donation in her name, Cay was a supporter of the Crossnore Communities for Children (Donation Portal).