Mary Bobbitt Obituary

Mary Ellen Bobbitt

May 2, 2025

Mary Ellen Bobbitt of Cape Carteret, North Carolina, passed away on May 2, 2025 at the age of 89. She left us peacefully in her home, surrounded by love. The world is a less hospitable, and less sassy, place without her.

Mary Ellen was born in 1935 in Winston-Salem, NC to Lucille King and Percy Jones. Growing up in Greensboro, Mary Ellen was raised to be a hard worker, and always put her family first. Following her graduation from Guilford High School in 1953, she immediately began working. First for Guilford Mills, then for the Burroughs Corporation with her sister, Shirley. Working for the small repair company next door was Mary Ellen's future husband and love of her life, James Milton Bobbitt. Shirley introduced them, and they were married in 1966.

Jim's job took them up and down the Atlantic Coast, living in Antigua, Guam, Barbados, Nova Scotia and eventually Norfolk, Virginia, where they welcomed their one and only child, Missy, in 1967.

In 1969, the three of them settled in Greensboro, near family, and Mary Ellen resumed her career of service to the State of North Carolina working in the Guilford County court system. They moved to Raleigh in 1979, and Mary Ellen worked as a deputy clerk for the NC Court of Appeals for the next fifteen years. She loved working for the State, where she made lifelong friendships and significant contributions.

Upon her retirement in 1994, Mary Ellen and Jim found their well-earned peace on the coast, first in Pine Knoll Shores and then in their final home in Cape Carteret. After Jim passed in 2016, Mary Ellen's beloved shih tzu, Mr. Bo, kept her company. She rarely took the time to sit and rest, always gardening, cooking, and in her words "piddling."

Beyond her kindness, sense of humor, and knowledge of the court system, Mary Ellen will be remembered for two special talents. First, for creating unbelievable meals. Her homemade barbecue was coveted from coast to coast, her desserts famous from Maine to Florida. Friends and family rightfully referred to her as a "national treasure." Second, for surrounding herself with flowers. She had an uncanny ability to make any plant flourish, filling her house, porch, and garden with blooms.

Mary Ellen is survived by her daughter, Melissa "Missy" Bobbitt Donovan, and her husband, Brad Donovan of Raleigh, as well as her granddaughter, Molly Bobbitt Donovan, and her husband William Kitto of Raleigh. She is also survived by her siblings, Percy "Billy" Jones and Shirley Jones King, and their spouses, Ruth Jones and Don King. Plus, her nieces Debra Ellen Lasley Bowman, Vickie Jones Cooper, Michelle Jones Royster, nephew Joseph William Lasley, and a number of grand nieces and nephews.

Her life was celebrated at her home on June 7, 2025 with family, friends, and her Cape Carteret neighbors, who she loved like family. Mary Ellen's spirit will live on in all the people she touched along the way, and she will be missed every day.