Beryl Mary Spry

Beryl Mary Spry passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home in Tennille, GA on June 1, 2026, after a lengthy illness. A memorial service will be held on Friday June 5th, at 1:00 pm, at Tennille United Methodist Church. The family will greet friends in the church’s W.B. Smith building directly following the service.

Beryl was born in London, England on July 5, 1937, to Frederick Charles Harrison and Annie Beatrice Harrison. She had one sibling, her brother Roy, born in 1943. Her early childhood was dominated by the realities of living on the British homefront in the Second World War. She developed a deep love of reading during long hours in their family’s bomb shelter, which served her well during her high school years at Roan School for Girls in Greenwich, England. There she particularly enjoyed French and music classes, had the opportunity to sing with the school chorus in St. Paul’s Cathedral, and became a proficient pianist.

The family lived in London until Beryl was 16, when they moved to Carharrack, a village in Cornwall, Southeast England. There Beryl took a job in the nearby city of Truro, eventually becoming a legal secretary, a job she excelled at and thoroughly enjoyed. While living in Cornwall she met her future husband Derek Spry, then a student at Cambourne School of Mines, and they married on Sept 8, 1962. In July 1963 Beryl and Derek moved to Tennille so that Derek could take up a position at Anglo American Clays, a U.S. holding of his English employer, ECLP (now Imerys).

Beryl threw herself into her new American life. While caring for her three children, she became skilled at sewing and needlecraft – constructing beautiful quilts for family and friends. For many years she worked as administrative assistant to the director of Washington Memorial Hospital in Sandersville. She enjoyed entertaining local friends and visitors from around the world, sharing her wit, good food, and boundless curiosity. Beryl also played the organ at church, volunteered as a Girl Scout and Cub Scout troop leader, and worked with WACO middle school students to encourage their love of reading.

Beryl loved to travel. In addition to family beach vacations, she and Derek visited many parts of the United States and regularly traveled to England to visit their parents. She served as a volunteer chaperone for several of Brentwood School’s class trips to Europe and visited Japan with her son Richard’s wife Suzanne. One of her most memorable journeys was her solo trip to Australia, where she spent time with her brother Roy, who emigrated to Melbourne from England in the mid-1960s.

Beryl is survived by her beloved husband Derek of Tennille, her brother Roy, his wife Leslie, their son David and his husband Lawrence of Melbourne, Australia along with her daughter Anne and son-in-law Phil Rush of Kensington, MD, son Richard & daughter-in-law Suzanne Spry of San Antonio, TX, and son Charles and daughter-in-law Leanne Spry of Smyrna, GA. Her grandchildren are David Rush of Laurel, MD, Derek H. Spry of Bakersfield, CA, and Jenna Housholder & her husband Zachary of Cibolo, TX.

Donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at https://www.alz.org or Wesley Glen Ministries, Inc. in Macon at wesley.glenministries.com

Please leave an online condolence at mayandsmithfuneraldirectors.com

May and Smith Funeral Directors is in charge of these arrangements.