Obituary of Mary Berry Rion Wittenberg

Mary Berry Rion Wittenberg, age 93, wife of 57 years to Philip Wittenberg, and formerly of Columbia and Sumter, SC, died peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by family, after a brief hospice, on December 10, 2020 on Hilton Head Island, SC.  She was born in Columbia, SC in 1927, to Alva Holbrook (Happy) Rion, and Willodene (Deenie) Elliott Rion. She is survived by her devoted husband Philip of Hilton Head Island, and their four children from previous marriages:  Madelyn Drake Bourgeois Butts (widow of Radford) of Bucklick, Fairfield County, SC; James Rion Bourgeois (Dru) of Canby, Oregon; John Elliott Bourgeois (Ann) of Charlotte, NC; and Rochelle Wittenberg Lawandales (Frank) of Satellite Beach, FL. She is also survived by nine grandchildren:   David Butts Rion (Christine) of Raleigh, NC; Savannah Marie Bourgeois Baumann (Charlie) of Beaverton, OR; Elliott Rion Bourgeois (Phoenix) of Portland, OR; Townsend Bourgeois Kinsler (Josh) of Athens, GA; John Rion

Bourgeois (Sarah) of Charlotte, NC; Fleming Adams Bourgeois of Charlotte, NC; Jared Michael Lawandales of Satellite Beach, FL; Justin Ray Lawandales of Tampa, FL; and Mathew Samuel Lawandales (Sarah) of St. Petersburg, FL. She is also survived by ten great-grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, she was also pre-deceased by her two brothers and two sisters: James Wallace Rion (Elizabeth) at Mount Gilead, OH; Aubrey Holbrook Rion (Jeannette) at Bastogne, Belgium; Willodene (Sister) Rion Lumpkin (Alva) at Columbia, SC; and Irving (Doodie) Rion Alvey (Hamp) at Columbia, SC. She was also pre-deceased by her son-in-law Noel Radford Butts at Greer, SC, and grandson Philip Manning Butts at Greer, SC.

Mary Berry grew up and raised her children in Columbia, SC until she married Philip Wittenberg in 1963 and moved to Sumter where they raised their family and he practiced law until 1992 when they moved to The Commodore on Hilton Head Island, SC to fulfill Philip's dream of living at the beach and playing golf. They met playing bridge, and both became Life Masters. They also shared a passion for France, where they spent vacations at Beune and Villefranche-sur-Mer each summer and fall for

thirty-eight years. Vacationing in France, they developed an interest in French wines, which led them to form a wine importing business, Marie-Philippe, Ltd. This resulted in close friendships in Beaune, and their induction into several French wine orders or fraternities and their regular attendance at Les Trois Glorieuses de Bourgogne wine festival.  An accomplished cook, she self-published a cookbook of recipes of her own, and of her friends and family: Grandberry's Favorites. A voracious reader, she spent the last years of her life reading in her recliner overlooking Skull Creek and the lntracoastal Waterway. She was blessed with wonderful friends in Columbia, Sumter, and on Hilton Head Island.  She suggested Friends of the Library, PO Box 21268, Hilton Head Island, SC 29925-1268 as the recipient of any remembrances.

Private services and interment were held at Six Oaks Cemetery on Hilton Head Island, SC pursuant to arrangements made by The Island Funeral Home on Hilton Head Island, SC.