Mary Alice Brinn

Mary Alice Cohoon Brinn, ­­­­97, died peacefully February 7, 2023. She was born September 13, 1925, to Burnice Ray Cohoon and Wilma Alexander Cohoon. Raised in Columbia (N.C.), she was a 1944 graduate of Columbia High School and a 1947 graduate of East Carolina Teacher’s College with a degree in Home Economics. In 1949, she married Rufus Timothy Brinn, a decorated Naval officer. She spent 26 years as a devoted military wife and mother of five, stationed around the United States and France. Following her husband’s retirement from the Navy, the family relocated to Rocky Mount, N.C., where they lived until 1978, when they moved to Tim’s family home on Front Street in Hertford, N.C. She remained in Hertford until her death.

Mary Alice was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Frederick Ludford Wilson Cohoon, her husband, Rufus Timothy Brinn, her daughter Harriett Lee Brinn, and her grandson, Rufus Timothy Brinn, III. Mary Alice is survived by four children, Rufus Timothy Brinn, Jr. (Kim), Claudius Ray Brinn (Gaye), Beverly Alexander Brinn, and Mary Martha Brinn Gray (John). She is survived by seven grandchildren: Joseph Stallings Brinn (Ashley), Kathrin Teal Samerigo (Sean), Hugh Timothy Brinn (Ashley), Alexander Ray Brinn (Ali), Lucille Chappell Lex (Jeremy), Mary Brinn Gray, and John Holt Gray. She is also survived by eleven great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be at 2:00 on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 207 S. Church St., Hertford, N.C. with The Rev. Robert Beauchamp officiating. The family will receive friends in the Parish Hall following the service. The family would like to thank her physicians Robert Earl Lane and Joe Haskett, and her caregivers, who enabled Mary Alice to maintain a high-quality life with their extraordinary care, compassion, and support. The family encourages memorial donations to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, the Perquimans County Restoration Association 151 Newbold White Rd., Hertford, N.C. 27944 or Perquimans County Library 514 S. Church St., Hertford, N.C. 27944.