Individual Details

Death

“Jim” Furr was one of three original employees when Dorsey’s Inc. Interior Designers opened in 1938. For the more than 35 years she worked there as a fabric designer, few people knew her by her real name — Mary Alice. Mary Alice “Jim” Condor Furr of Matthews died Feb. 18, 1988, of cancer at Presbyterian Hospital. She was 75. She was known throughout Charlotte as an excellent fabric designer. “All her work was done on a handshake. Customers would say whatever you think is best, do it,” said Marvin Steels, president of Dorsey’s. Mrs. Furr got her nickname when she was 3 years old. A younger cousin couldn’t pronounce Mary Alice, so he called her “Jim” — after a tenant farmer whom all the children adored. It stuck. Her nephew, Caldwell Russell, remembers his aunt for her fishing prowess. “She was a very dainty and petite woman,” Russell said. “But she was one heck of a sportsman.” His aunt taught him how to cast, he said. “There were other men out there,” Russell recalled, “but not one who could cast farther out than my aunt.” Mrs. Furr was a member of the Matthews United Methodist Church since 1938. She was a Sunday School teacher for 19 years and also played the piano for the Sunday School. Funeral is 11 a.m. today at Matthews United Methodist Church, Matthews. Burial will be in Sharon Memorial Park. McEwen Funeral Home, Charlotte chapel is in charge. Survivors are her brother, Thomas Conder of Matthews; sisters, Mrs. Eliza Jacobs, Miss Sarah Conder, both of Matthews, nine nieces and nephews. Memorials can be made to Matthews United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 518, Matthews, N.C. 28106; or to Hospice at Charlotte, 1331 The Plaza, Charlotte, N.C. 28205.
The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina, February 20, 1988