Mary Pauline Cummins

Cummins, Mary Pauline, 93, passed away on April 5, 2007, at the Orange Park Medical Center. She was preceded in death by her husband Alex G. Cummins in 1991. She came to Jacksonville in 1999 and resided at San Jose Manor. She was born Mary Pauline Veselosky on July 30, 1913 in Wise, Virginia of immigrant parents who had recently fled present-day Slovakia. Mary graduated from the Virginia School for the Deaf in Staunton, Virginia and became a licensed beautician. She took great pride in applying her beautician skills, maintaining exceptional skin and original red hair throughout her life. Mary was also an exceptional seamstress, altering and sewing clothes for numerous friends and family. Mary met her husband, Alex, also deaf, who was the first Baptist missionary to the deaf in the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky, and both married on June 30, 1940 and settled in Harlan, Kentucky, where Alex owned and operated a shoe repair shop. Both were engaged in missionary work and support for the deaf in the area through the auspices of the Harlan Baptist Church and the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Several years ago the Kentucky Baptist Conference of the Deaf established a special missionary fund in honor of their work with the deaf in Kentucky. Mary and Alex moved in 1964 to Louisville, Kentucky, where they continued their missionary work and played leadership roles in the deaf congregation of the Fourth Avenue Baptist Church. They also engaged in volunteer work at the Kentucky School for the Blind and participated in the World Deaf Congress of 1975. They moved in 1990 to Laurel, Maryland to live with their son and participated in the large deaf community in the Washington, D.C. region and at the First Baptist Church of Laurel, Maryland. After moving to Jacksonville in 1999, Mary joined the Baymeadows Baptist Church and became a prominent member of its deaf congregation. She developed a unique method of song-leading and singing for her Sunday School class, whereby the signing of words and phrases corresponded to the musical beat and high-or-low placement of notes. She was a member of the deaf chorus which performed at the Jacksonville Billy Graham Crusade. She actively engaged in activities with the Jacksonville deaf community and in the Southern Baptist Convention. Sweet Mary, as she was often called, will be remembered for her enthusiasm, optimism, Christian spirit, and an insatiable thirst for learning, which she imparted to her two hearing sons. Mary is survived by two sons, Alex of St. Augustine and Paul of Orange Park. There are also two grandsons and numerous nieces and nephews, and two sisters and a brother who live in Southern California. Memorial Services will be held Sunday, April 29, 2007, at 6:00 PM at the Baymeadows Baptist Church on 4826 Baymeadows Road, Jacksonville, Florida, 32217. Mary will be cremated and her ashes buried with her husband’s in a private family cemetery near Williamsburg, Kentucky. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alex Cummins Mission Fund, Kentucky Baptist Conference of the Deaf, 638 Tupelo Drive, Independence, Kentucky, 41051, and to Baymeadows Baptist Church. Condolences and comments may be sent to Alex G. Cummins via email to ACumm98273@aol.com or by signing the family’s online guest book at www.broadusraines.com. Professional services are provided by Broadus-Raines Funeral Home, 501 Spring St, Green Cove Springs, FL (904) 284-4000.