Mary Anne Hooper Rayburn met her Savior, Jesus Christ, and reunited in Heaven with her beloved parents, Bob and Pauline Hooper, and sister, Carolyn H. Lance, on April 3.

Mary Anne was born in Haywood County, grew up in West Asheville, and attended Lee Edwards and Enka High Schools and then Carson-Newman University. She worked for Isgett Distributors for 47 years, many of those as vice president. She faithfully worked there until just a couple of months before her 83rd birthday.

Mary Anne loved Jesus, her family, and her friends unconditionally. She welcomed everyone into her heart and home, sharing the love of Christ with them, reminding them that while she loved them all so much, Jesus loves them more.

For more than eight decades, she served the Lord in her community and church. For many years, she was a member of West Asheville Baptist Church, Friendship Baptist Church, and Mills River Baptist Church.

She is survived by her daughters Paula Autrey (David) and Charlotte Redden (Mitchell Dickens); granddaughters, Lexus, Camri, and Bently Walker, Audrey Clayton, and Constance Dickens; brother, Bobby Hooper; several nieces and nephews including, Leslie Hull-Ryde, Tracy McGaha, Chip Lance and others; special friends; and countless brothers and sisters in Christ.

Visitation for family and friends will be held at Anders-Rice Funeral Home on Monday, April 8, at 10 a.m. A celebration of life highlighting Mary Anne’s living testimony, legacy, and longstanding walk with the Lord will be held immediately following at Anders-Rice Chapel at 11 a.m. Afterward, a burial service will be held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Candler.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making contributions to Hospice at Four Seasons Foundation in Hendersonville.

Anders-Rice Funeral Home and Cremation Center is honored to serve the Rayburn family.

The original obituary can be found HERE.