Mary Sue Gregory, BBA Honored as a Proud Contributor to Her Community's Culture

    ENGLEWOOD, FL, September 30, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Mary Sue Gregory, BBA has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Driven by a lifelong passion for helping others, working with different kinds of people, and accomplishing set goals, Mary Sue Gregory, BBA has excelled for two decades as the founder and worker in the Cades Cove Preservation Association. The nonprofit organization, which began in 2001, was created by descendants to protect the rich heritage and history of their pioneer settlers who, in the 1800s, came to an isolated valley in the Tennessee section of what became Great Smoky Mountain National Park in the 1930s and established a community there. With years of professional experience in the electrical and computer engineering fields, Ms. Gregory's devotion to history and conservation efforts stem from deep familial roots in the region. As a stay-at-home mom, Ms. Gregory taught sewing at local community organization, guided her children within sports as coach and Girl Scout and Boy Scout groups as local leader. She also volunteered at local school to assist students who needed assistance and as officer of local PTA arranged for a name sign to be placed near school entrance.

Ms. Gregory, born in 1944 in Maryville, Tennessee, was raised around the valley as many generations of relatives had lived in Cades Cove and Blount County. Both her parents grew up in Cades Cove as well. However, with the passing of time and the emergence of the national park, her father saw the disappearance of private land and, with it, the memories of the people who were the first to plant homes and lives there. Always bright and full of fortitude, she took electrical courses at the University of Tennessee and local electrical training centers. She then became certified as a Computer Aided Designer, Quality Analyst, and a certified ISO 9001 auditor and instructor, which led her to excel in computer-aided work in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where she had top-level security clearance in Knoxville and Maryville, Tennessee, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. In the midst of her work, she utilized her credentials to join her friends and fellow citizens in the Women's March Movement.

In her 50s, Ms. Gregory obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration from Maryville College in 1997 and studied museum management, launching her to become involved in the National Museum Association and Tennessee Museum Association. Always feeling a strong connection to her roots in Tennessee, she grew more and more determined to help preserve the history and legacy of her community's ancestors including their musical heritage by obtaining 501-c-3 coverage for the Rocky Branch Community Club. One day, a fire was lit under her in the form of a local newspaper article that announced a Blount County Genealogical Association meeting. At the meeting, all newcomers were asked to stand up and say their name; after the introductions and meeting was held, an older woman approached her and said she was her sister's Dorothy Gregory's high school teacher, Miss Inez Burns. Pointing her finger at Ms. Gregory, she said, "You are going to find out the history of your family…you have a great family and need to know it." Additionally, in speaking to her father, who expressed his pain in regards to his own family's wiped-out legacy, she told him, "They will never [be forgotten]…I will make sure of it."

From there, she and other family members set out to create the Cades Cove Preservation Association and its eventual museum in the historic Thompson-Brown House in Maryville. Made up of a group of like-minded individuals dedicated to the same cause, the group has strived to preserve the community's heritage by honoring those settler families who built home, churches, and schools; raised families and crops; worshipped; lived; laughed; loved; fought; and, "too often, buried loved ones in isolated family and in church cemeteries." With the help of other organizations, as well as the attention by the local media, the association is behind community maintenance, including the remediation of six cemeteries and weekly cleaning of the three remaining churches, and the general collection of archives, artifacts, and records that are then made available to descendants, researchers, and the general public.

In light of her work, Ms. Gregory has been recognized with several awards for community service. Outside of her primary endeavors, she has also been active as a founder of the Englewood Area Historical Museum and several other culture endeavors. Ms. Gregory was a long time member and activist of the National Organization for Women. A people-person with a commitment to keep the long legacy and history of an entire community out of the shadows, she has been grateful for the opportunities to make a difference—and keep a promise to her father. Ms. Gregory is the proud mother of two, grandmother of five, and great-grandmother of eight, and hopes that her life's journey serves as inspiration to those who believe they're too old to pursue their dreams.

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