Mary Chase Barbour

Mary Chase Barbour
March 21, 1943 - August 27, 2026

Mary Chase Barbour was born and raised in New Bern, North Carolina, a place she called home throughout her entire life. She attended Brinson School and built a life centered not on accomplishments or accolades, but on something far more important to her—family.

Mary was a homemaker both by trade and by heart. Caring for the people she loved was simply who she was. Through the years, she occasionally worked outside the home, including sewing, working in the school lunchroom, and even a short stint in retail at Mammoth Mart in New Bern. But wherever Mary may have worked, her greatest life's work was always found at home, taking care of her family.

Some of the family's fondest memories were made outdoors, especially fishing together. They remember days spent along the riverbank, catching fish and frying them right there beside the water while the children played nearby. They were simple days, perhaps, but they became the kind of memories that last a lifetime.

As a mother and grandmother, Mary didn't simply watch her family grow up—she was right there in the middle of their lives. She served as a Girl Scout leader, played ball with the children in the backyard, baked with her grandchildren, and found countless ways to make ordinary moments special.

And Mary knew that sometimes love looked a lot like something good coming out of the kitchen.

She made homemade biscuits just the way everyone liked them. When she made icing, she would make extra so the grandchildren could take some home. Those may seem like little things, but Mary's family knew better. They were her way of saying, “I love you. I thought about you. I want you to have something that makes you happy.”

In fact, Mary seemed to have a thousand different ways of saying "I love you" without ever needing to use the words.

Following the passing of her beloved husband, Robert, just over two months ago, those family moments became even more precious. After 67 years of marriage, his absence left an enormous space in Mary's life, and her family made sure she wasn't alone in it. They spent nights with her, kept her company, laughed together, and even decided on occasion that ice cream made a perfectly acceptable dinner.

Those moments are especially treasured now.

To the people who knew her best, Mary was simply the best—a caring, generous, loving woman who would do anything she could for anyone. Her family was the center of her world, and there was never any question about how deeply they were loved. She showed them in meals prepared, treats shared, time given, games played, fishing trips taken, and in a lifetime of simply being there.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Annie Mae Chase; her sisters, Edna Chase Samples and Glennie Chase Johnson; her grandchildren, John Bryan Harrington and Joey Lewis; and her beloved husband of 67 years, Robert Barbour.

She is lovingly survived by her children, Deborah Shaffer, Kimberly Barbour, and Robert Lee "Robby" Barbour, Jr. (Robbie Ann); grandchildren, Courtney Bates-Frazier, Cassidy Barbour, Billy Kyle Lewis, and Heather Ann Lewis; great-grandchildren, Jordyn Bates, Alaiyah Frazier, Zachariah Frazier, Carmen Lewis, Alaina Lewis, Kylan Lewis, Kade Lewis, and Trey Lewis; brother, John William Chase; and the many extended family members and friends whose lives were made better because Mary was a part of them.

The family will receive friends from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 at CrossRoads Baptist Church, followed by a service celebrating Mary's life at 2:00 p.m., with Pastor Kevin VaLeu officiating. Mary will then be laid to rest at Greenleaf Memorial Park.

Mary's life was never about grand gestures. Her love was found in the everyday things—in a fishing pole beside the river, children playing in the backyard, flour on the kitchen counter, an extra bowl of homemade icing, warm biscuits made just right, and even ice cream for dinner.

Those were Mary's thousand little ways of loving her family.

And long after the last biscuit has been eaten and the fishing poles have been put away, that love will remain—woven into the stories they tell, the traditions they carry forward, and the countless memories of a woman whose greatest joy was simply taking care of the people she loved.

Bennett Funeral & Cremation Care is honored to serve the family and friends of Mary Chase Barbour.