Mary Jane Glasscock, 105, of Heritage Point, formerly of South Park, Morgantown, departed this life Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, at her residence. She was born Nov. 24, 1916, in Moundsville, a daughter of the late George Phillip and Anna Pearl Westerby Wasmuth.
She graduated from Moundsville High School in 1934. From 1935-37, she attended Stratford Junior College for Women in Danville, Va. After receiving her certificate there, she came to West Virginia University to complete her bachelor’s degree in music education in 1939. She began her teaching career at Mercer School in Princeton. In 1943, she returned to Morgantown to teach music and supervise student teachers at University High School and the Laboratory Elementary School. She held this position until 1955, although she took a year’s sabbatical from 1952-53 to work for the Ginn Book Company, where she traveled in West Virginia and Kentucky to showcase their music books. In 1955, she moved to the College of Education at WVU and continued supervising music and elementary education student teachers until her retirement in 1978. During this time, she also taught recreational music to students majoring in recreation. Graduate study while she was at University High School included completion of a master’s degree in music education from WVU in 1947, and further graduate work at Columbia University in New York during the summer of 1950.
She was a member of Wesley United Methodist Church for over 50 years. She was also a member of several other organizations, including the Women’s Club of Morgantown, the Delphian Book Club and the Morgantown Music Club, serving as its president from 1968-70. She was a former member of the Alpha Delta Kappa education honorary and of Alpha Phi social sorority. She was a life member of both the Mon Health Medical Center Auxiliary and the Friends of West Virginia University Hospital, accruing over 2,000 hours as a volunteer at the J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital Information Desk. She was also a life member of both the West Virginia University Alumni Association and the WVU Emeritus Club.
She was active in the West Virginia State 4-H program for many years as a member, leader and All Star. She represented West Virginia at National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago in 1934 as the state winner in Complete Costume. She served as a county and state 4-H camp instructor, as well as a hostess at Jackson’s Mill State 4-H Camp, during the summers of 1939-53. In the early 1950s, she compiled and edited the first published West Virginia 4-H Song Book. She was inducted into the West Virginia 4-H Hall of Fame in 2004. One of her hobbies was needlepoint, and she was one of 20 women selected in 1974 to needlepoint a chair seat cover for the dining room chairs at the West Virginia Governor’s Mansion.
She was married to Benjamin L. Glasscock on Aug. 22, 1953, and they enjoyed 55 years of marriage together before his passing in 2009. She is survived by a daughter, Susan Jane Arnold, and her husband Stephen E. Arnold, of Morgantown, and several nieces and nephews: Janie Coolidge of The Villages, Fla., Phillip Woodruff and his wife Carolissa, of Glen Dale, Bruce Woodruff and his wife Sue, of St. Clairsville, Ohio, Tom Woodruff, of Moundsville, Betsy Hill and her husband Richard, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Lynda Ruckman, of St. Petersburg, Fla., Nancy Ruckman, of Riverview, Fla., Jack Glasscock and his wife Nancy, of Moundsville, and Scott Glasscock and his wife Georgeann, of South Charleston. She was the last surviving member of her family. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, George Wasmuth, and three sisters, Gladys Knapp, Phyllis Woodruff and Anna Lucille Ruckman.
A private graveside service will be held for the family. A service of remembrance will be planned for later in the spring. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Wesley United Methodist Church, 503 N. High St, Morgantown, WV, 26505, or to the WVU Foundation (No. 2V620) P.O. Box 1650, Morgantown, WV, 26507 to be used for the WVU Jackson’s Mill Restoration Fund.
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