Mary Alice Gose La Rue

Mary Alice Gose LaRue went to be with her Lord and Savior on April 27, 2026. She was the daughter of the late Hobart Scott and Iona Davis Gose. Mary Alice was born on November 2, 1933, in Hickory Valley, Maynardville, Union County, Tennessee, where she lived until the building of Norris Dam forced her family to relocate to Monroe County. She often said she was as old as the Smoky Mountain National Park and Norris Dam.

She was a member of Stockton Valley Baptist Church in Loudon County, where she served as an organist for many years. She professed her faith in God at the age of thirteen and joined Glenlock Baptist Church in Monroe County, where she served as pianist, Sunday school teacher, and church secretary and clerk.

Mary Alice was a lifetime member of NEA Retired Teachers, Tennessee Retired Teachers, and the Loudon County Retired Teachers Association. She was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, serving as an officer in Paint Rock Chapter #454 for forty-three years. She was a member of the Past Matrons and Past Patrons of Middle East Tennessee and served as Grand Instructor for District 32 from 2005–2008. After the closing of the Paint Rock Chapter, she transferred her membership to Lenoir #188 in Lenoir City.

A lifelong teacher, Mary Alice began her career at age nineteen, a profession very dear to her heart. She taught in Monroe, Knox, and Loudon Counties and retired from Philadelphia Elementary School in 1992, after twenty-one years there and thirty years total in Tennessee. After retiring, she moved to the Houston, Texas area and taught for the Pasadena Independent School District for six and a half years in Generic Special Education. Upon retiring in Texas and returning to her beloved Stockton Valley home, which she had owned since 1963, she continued substitute teaching until the age of 84 because she enjoyed being with her students.

She attended Tennessee Wesleyan College, earned her Tennessee Permanent Professional Education Certificate, and later received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also attended the University of Houston, Clear Lake, earning her Permanent Professional Elementary Certification in Generic Special Education and Elementary Education in Texas.

Mary Alice was preceded in death by her husbands, Thomas C. La Rue and Luther Thomas Presley; her parents, Hobart and Iona Gose; and her only brother, Rev. Thomas (Tommy) Gose.

She is survived by her children: two sons, Lynn David La Rue and wife Susan Campbell La Rue, and Michael Carl La Rue and wife Nicole Watson La Rue; and one daughter, Lorraine La Rue Bennett and husband Jeff Bennett. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Zachery Thomas Bennett and wife Anna, Mitchell Carl Jenkins and wife Samantha, Nicholas William Bennett and wife Kayla, Bryson Gage La Rue, Sydney Paige La Rue, and Sarah Teal and husband Eric, as well as great-grandchildren Phoebe, Mazie, and Lainey Jenkins, Wesley Bennett, Harrison Bennett, and Collins Teal all of whom she cherished, and brother-in-law Chester Wofsy.

The family will receive friends on Thursday, April 30, 2026, from 5–7 PM, with the funeral to follow at 7 PM, officiated by Rev. Tim Watson and Tony Brock. The graveside service will be held Friday, May 1, 2026, at 11:00 AM at Sweetwater Memory Gardens with Rev. Tony Arnold officiating.