Mary Bronaugh Brittain

Mary Clark (Warwick) Bronaugh Brittain of Nashville, TN passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 21, 2023, having lived a full life, beloved by many.  Mary Clark was born in Nashville on July 7, 1927. She was the daughter of the late Elizabeth Culbert Warwick and Charles Henry Warwick, Jr. When Mary Clark was a toddler, the Warwick family moved to West Palm Beach, FL where she grew up. She was preceded in death by her brother James Shannon Warwick, sister Jane Warwick Wakeman, and brother Charles Henry Warwick III. Clark was married for 46 years to J. Stewart Bronaugh, Sr. who preceded her in death, and was then married to Leonard Parkes (Bill) Brittain Jr. in 1996 until his death in 2014.

From early childhood, swimming was integral to Mary Clark’s life. She learned to swim at The Coral Beach Club in Palm Beach where her father was a competitive backgammon player. Mary Clark swam competitively in high school and was on the Women’s Intramural Swim Team at Vanderbilt all four years. While she frequently won her heats, she loved swimming, whether she won or not, and passed her love of the sport on to the next generations. Her grandchildren will always remember “swimming at Grandmama’s”, which was followed by frozen Snickers bars, dinner with “Grandmama bread”, and lots of dessert choices. A grandson said swimming at Grandmama’s was “so much fun!” A granddaughter said, “From having snacks in the car to making food for the entire soccer team to sending newspaper clippings she thought we’d like, she paid attention and we knew she loved us. She was an athlete. Nobody else had a grandmother that swam laps every day.”

A beauty inside and out, Clark was Queen of the Orange Bowl in 1945.  She was a graduate of Vanderbilt University (Class of 1949) where she was Vice President of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Queen of Junior Prom, and Circulation Manager for the Vanderbilt Hustler.

Clark had a passion for learning and teaching the Bible. For 23 years she served as Chairman, Area Representative, and speaker for the Christian Women’s Club as well as Nashville’s Teaching Leader for Bible Study Fellowship for 12 years. She was Co-Chair of the Billy Graham Crusade (1979), Chairman of the Bicentennial Prayer Lunch (1975), Chairman of the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast (1986), Steering Committee for the Billy Graham Crusade (2000), Board Member of the International Bible Society in Colorado Springs, (1980-1992), and a member of the Operation Andrew Group. Her favorite verse was John 1:12: “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” In her words, she encouraged everyone to “Carve out time each day to meditate and pray, no matter how little time.”

She was the loving mother of three children, Ellen Bronaugh Vergos (John) of Memphis, TN,  J, Stewart Bronaugh Jr,  (Molly) of Nashville, TN, and James Warwick “Jim” Bronaugh (Denise) of Franklin, TN, and nine grandchildren, Anna Vergos Blair (Angus), Katherine Vergos Riederer (Daniel) and Charlie Vergos of Memphis, Robert Phalen Bronaugh (Andrea) of Nashville, TN, Caroline Bronaugh Baugher (William) of Baltimore, MD,  Mary Bronaugh Jackson (Charlie) of Nashville, and J, Stewart Bronaugh III (Justine) of Brooklyn, NY, Abby Bronaugh of Chicago, IL, and Jessie Bronaugh of Franklin, TN.  Through her second marriage to Bill Brittain, she is predeceased by stepson Scott Brittain (Betsy) of Nashville and survived by stepdaughter Claire Brittain Kimmel (Dave) of Banner Elk, NC, Ellen Brittain Williams (Curtis) of Birmingham, AL, and Emily Brittain of Nashville along with their children, whom she loved.

The family will receive visitors on Friday, March 3, 2023, from 10:00 AM until service time at 11:00 AM at Covenant Presbyterian Church at 33 Burton Hills Blvd. Nashville, TN 37215. A burial, with a private Graveside service, will follow at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens, 9090 Hwy 100 Nashville, TN 37221. Memorials can be made to the Operation Andrew Group, a Nashville partnership between local churches and metro public schools, PO Box 128045, Nashville, TN 37212 https://operationandrew.org/donate/ , or Bible Study Fellowship 19001 Huebner Rd, San Antonio, TX 78258  https://www.bsfinternational.org/support/memorials-and-honorarium/