GREENVILLE, ILL. — Mary F. Bartholomew, age 85 of Greenville, Ill., passed away at 2:55 am. Friday, Oct. 3, 2008, at the Fair Oaks Nursing Home in Greenville, Ill.

Mary Frances, the daughter of the late John A. and Mary Edna (Stamm) McEwen, was born in New Hamburg on May 30, 1923. She grew up in New Hamburg, where she attended the two-room school and graduated with the class of 1942 from the former Fredonia High School and had worked on a dairy farm bottling and selling milk. During the war effort, she did factory work.

Mary and Belvin E. Bartholomew were united in marriage on Aug. 7, 1943, at the Mercer Free Methodist Church. They enjoyed more than 65 years of marriage. She raised her family in Reo Grande and Meadville and worked then for Talon zipper company. Mary and Belvin moved to Greenville, Ill., in 1967. Later, in 1969, she started working for Greenville College and was the supervisor of housekeeping, retiring in 1989 after 20 years of service. She then worked various part-time jobs, SIU Textbook services and Greenville College Bookstore. While residing in Pennsylvania, Mary was a member of the Mercer Free Methodist Church, and later, the Greenville Free Methodist Church, Greenville, Ill. She was a member of the Missionary Society, Edith Christian Monday Evening Service Club, Bond County Association for the handicapped, Advisory Board for the Mental Health Department, board member for Fayco Workshops, local quilting guild, a local camping club and the Fair Oaks Hospital Auxiliary.

In addition to her husband of Greenville, Ill., she is survived by a daughter, Bonita Elmore and her husband, Lonnie, of Edwardsville, Ill.; a son, Walter Bartholomew and his wife, Brenda, of Lakeland, Fla., five sisters, Dorothy Whittingham of North Chili, N.Y.; Julia Breese and her husband, Bill, of Fredonia; Margie Rhyal of Sheakleyville, Virginia McEwen of Slippery Rock and Ellen Nye and her husband, Charles, of Portersville; four grandchildren, Daren Bartholomew and his wife, Tracey; Wess Branson and his wife, Darla; Stephanie Morris and her husband, Christopher; and Susan Haywood and her husband, Jason; and four great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her daughter, Lorinda J. Bartholomew, in 1969, infant sister, Ruth Emma McEwen and a sister, Eileen Scragg.

 Funeral service will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Robert L. Snyder Funeral Home Ltd., 169 Second St., Fredonia. Interment will follow at the Millbank Cemetery, Fairview Township.

Friends are invited to call at the funeral home on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Condolences may be posted online at www. rlsfh.com. The family has suggested that memorial tributes may be made to the Free Methodist Church Missions to Native Americans.