Serex, Mary Muir (Mrs. Adrian M.)
6/2/1961
MRS. ADRIAN M. SEREX
May 24, 1898-June 2, 1961
Mary Muir Bays was born in the Crescent City of lovely Louisiana May 24, 1898, the daughter of James A. and Ada Muir Bays. Her mother died at the hour of her birth and she was lovingly received in the home of her aunt. Mrs. W. P. Bradburn, and remained there as an integral part of the Bradburn family until years later, she joined the Methodist itinerancy.
Mary was baptized and confirmed in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans and was an active and devoted member of that communion until her marriage. While soloist in the First Methodist Church in New Orleans, she met the Assistant Pastor, the Rev. Adrian M. Serex, and they were united in the holy bonds of matrimony in First Church on October 19, 1926. To this union were born the following children, who, with their father, survive: Captain Henry Muir Serex, U.S.A.F.; Mrs. Mary Bays Parker, San Francisco; William Dobbs Serex, in the Service with the U. S. Army in France; and Donald Martin Serex, New Orleans.
Mary Bays Serex attended school in the city of New Orleans and graduated with the Bachelor Degree in Music from New Orleans Conservatory of Music. She also studied in New York and Brussels, Belgium, under great teachers of oratorio and sacred music. Her major was piano, but it was through her wonderful voice that she made her greatest contribution to God and the church. She served as soloist in some of the leading churches and synagogues in the country. She was in much demand for recitals, oratorios and festivals of Sacred Music where she interpreted the most difficult scores with east and great depth of feeling. To Mary, the language of music was the natural expression of worship.
She was a loving, efficient, and dedicated parsonage queen and accompanied her husband to appointments in New Orleans, Brussels (while he was a student there), New Iberia, Minden, Superintendent of the Shreveport District, Monroe and Rayne Memorial, New Orleans. It was my privilege to serve as her pastor during a six-year period. Her seat was rarely vacant in the sanctuary. She thrilled great congregations with her lovely voice and the beauty of her more lovely life. Truly she had a Christian Faith; death to her was not a dark cloud which blinded vision, but a door which opened into larger life. Her friendship even to this day lingers as a growing benediction.
She was transferred to the Church Triumphant June 2, 1961, during the closing moments of the Annual Conference in session at Centenary College, Shreveport. Her memorial service was held in Rayne Memorial Church, New Orleans on June 4, 1961, conducted by Bishop Aubrey G. Walton, resident Bishop of the Louisiana Area; Rev. Benedict A. Galloway, Superintendent of the New Orleans District; Rev. Louis Coppage, Associate Minister of Rayne Memorial; and Rev. Henry W. Dorsey, local deacon of Rayne Church. Her remains were interred in the beautiful Metairie Cemetery in the city of New Orleans.
Source: Journal Louisiana Conference, 1962; p. 256 By Bishop Dana Dawson
