Portrait of Mary Witt. IMB Photo

Mary Witt, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Brazil, died March 11, 2026. She was 95.  

Mary was born March 26, 1930, in Knoxville, Tennessee, to the late Samuel Edgar Witt and Dulce Clara Mae Edgeman Witt. She graduated from Central High School in Fountain City, Tennessee, and received the Bachelor of Science from Carson Newman College, Jefferson City, Tennessee, and the Master of Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.  

After graduation from high school, she worked full time at F.W. Woolworth’s as head counter clerk. While seeking missionary appointment she wrote, “I ignored my call and surrender to full time Christian service and entered training to become a supervisor. … In the spring of 1950, I clearly remember a small voice inside me saying, ‘This is the last time I call. Will you go tell the world about Christ?’ I could ignore the call no longer.”  

She entered college in September 1950. While in school, she worked part time as a cashier at White Stores, Inc., and at the Timothy Street Baptist Mission in Knoxville. Mary graduated from college in May 1954 and continued working as a cashier at White Stores and taught the third and fourth grades at Springhill Elementary School in Knox County. Two years later, she entered seminary.  

In 1963, the International Mission Board appointed Mary missionary to Brazil, where she served for more than 30 years.  

Mary was preceded in death by her brothers, Ernest, Paul Kenneth Francis, Henry Eugene, James Robert, and Allen Witt; and her sisters, Ruby Witt Williams and Agnes Louise Witt Lundquist.  

She is survived by many nieces and nephews. 

A funeral service was held March 15 at Rose Funeral & Cremation – Broadway in Knoxville, Tennessee, with burial in Woodlawn Cemetery, Kimberlin Heights, Tennessee.  

Donations in her memory may be made to the Lottie Moon Offering, IMB, 3806 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230, or online at Generosity Resource Center – IMB Generosity.  

Read an obituary here.