Mary Elizabeth Ayers Cranfill Carpenter

Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Ayers Cranfill Carpenter, 96, of Winston-Salem, passed away peacefully at Homestead Hills on Saturday, November 20, 2021.  Mary was born in Winston-Salem, NC on July 10, 1925, to the late Oscar M. Ayers and Yetive Carroll Ayers. She married Bill Cranfill on September 16, 1944, while he was in the Army Air Corp., and they were happily married until his death in September 1988.   Mary was a homemaker most of her life but went to work at Carpenter’s Flower Shop in Winston-Salem where she met and married Bill Carpenter in 1990. Mary was an excellent cook who always enjoyed cooking and baking for others be they, family, neighbors, or friends. Mary is survived by her husband Bill Carpenter; and two sisters, June Cook of Ponte Vedra, FL and Ann Sattenfield of Charlotte, NC.  Mary is also survived by her two daughters, Susan Styers and Mary Kay Phillips; four grandchildren, Jennifer Webb (Tim), Anna Styers, Kate Marshburn (Derrick), and Andrew Phillips (Chiara); four great-grandchildren, Sarah Webb (Jesse Evans), Matthew Webb (Aleksandra), Lydia Phillips and Eleanor Phillips; and three great-great-grandchildren, Ava Webb, Claire Webb and Camdyn Evans. A graveside service will be held at Forsyth Memorial Park on Saturday, November 27, 2021, at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any memorials be made to Trellis Supportive Care, 101 Hospice Ln., Winston-Salem, NC 27103.  Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel is serving the family of Mrs. Carpenter.