Mary J. Sturdivant, 71, of Nashville, Tenn.,  died Monday, November 26, 2018. She was born August 18, 1947 in St. Louis, Mo. where she lived until the 1970s when she moved to Tennessee. She attended Freed-Hardeman University and received a Bachelors Degree from Memphis State University. For 39 years she worked for the State of Tennessee, mostly in Employment Security, in the Department of Labor and the last 5 years in Revenue. For some years, she worked with adults teaching them to read. She loved traveling, especially going to the Smoky Mountains. Playing canasta filled some of her free time. She found great joy in helping others.

Predeceased by her parents, J. T. & Lora Louise Sturdivant and her brother-in-law, Walter Gerth.

Survivors include her sister, Betty Gerth (Fred) Robinson; nephews, David (Lisa Williams) Gerth, Mark (Samantha) Gerth; niece, Mary Kay (Craig) Maskal; step niece, Melissa (Tim) Meeker. Great-aunt to Warren, Jude and Bryce Gerth, and Reese Maskal; great-step-aunt to Kenlea and Essie Meeker; longtime companion, Walter Ethridge and his children, Tricia, James, Alice and Edward and their families also survive.

Memorials may be made to Gilda's Club Middle Tennessee (a cancer patient support group), 1707 Division St. , Nashville, TN 37203-7514.

Visitations: 8 to 10 a.m., Saturday, December 1, 2018 at Woodbine Funeral Home, Hickory Chapel, Nashville, Tenn.; and 9 to 10 a.m., Saturday, December 8, 2018 at Wolfersberger Funeral Home, O'Fallon, Ill.

Funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m., Saturday, December 1, 2018 at Woodbine Funeral Home, Hickory Chapel with Pastor Randy Cordell, officiating.

Interment: 11 a.m., Saturday, December 8, 2018, Memorial Park Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo. Family and Friends will serve as Pallbearers.