Mary Jane (Colvett) Kizer
April 8, 1951 ~ September 7, 2024 (age 73)
Mary Jane was born to Willie T. and Elizabeth Colvett in Milan, Tennessee, on April 8, 1951. She grew up in Huntingdon, Tennessee, and went through schools there. Her father owned the local shoe store, and her mother was a homemaker. The both of them died unexpectedly when Mary Jane was only thirteen. She was a popular girl in high school and loved being with her friends who gave her so much comfort after her parents died. She started dating Andy Kizer when both of them were high school students. As soon as she graduated, they were married on August 2, 1969. Soon, she obeyed the gospel, and she and her new husband were united in Christ when she put Christ on in baptism. Immediately, they moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Andy continued his studies toward a degree in Forestry and Mary began her work toward a degree in Elementary Education. After Andy graduated from UT in 1971, they moved to McKenzie, TN, and Andy went to Basic Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Mary went to work in a furniture plant. After Andy finished his training, Mary continued her education at Martin, Tennessee, and graduated from UT in 1973. While in McKenzie, she worshiped with the McKenzie church of Christ and taught babies in Cradle Roll Bible classes and worked with the bus program. Mary Jane always had a plan, and, after graduation, it was time to begin to have children. John Andrew (Drew) was born in January of 1975 and Ashley Andrew (Ash) was born in December of 1976. She wanted two more children, but that had to be put on hold for a while, because the family moved to Texas for Andy to go back to school in Fort Worth. Mary Jane’s heart was broken when she had to leave McKenzie. She had grown so close to the wonderful people there. After Andy finished the study at Brown Trail School of Preaching, the family continued to grow when Mary Jane had twins, MacKenzie Andrew (MacKenzie) and Barton Andrew (Barton) on January 5, 1981. When the family moved to Howe, Texas, she continued with her work in the kingdom and taught children’s classes for the Howe church of Christ. She also substituted for teachers in the elementary schools in the area. She was a band parent and always helped in her children’s education, being very active in the church, the schools, and community. Her heart was broken again when she had to leave Texas and move to Haleyville, Alabama, in 1995. She loved the people in Texas. But in Haleyville, she worked with the Ninth Avenue church of Christ and taught children’s Bible classes and prepared food and delivered it to members of the church in need. She was a band parent again in Haleyville and took care of the band’s uniforms. After all the boys went to college, she became a supporter of Freed-Hardeman University and made many trips to Henderson, Tennessee. When her sons got married, she rejoiced in the wonderful choices they made, but quietly so. In 2002, she established a publishing business and published, printed, bound, and marketed books for Bible classes. She grew the business to publish eighteen books. When Alzheimer’s Disease took over, she had to give that work up, but her legacy continues to flourish. For the last ten years she has been an important part of the Salem church of Christ in Florence, Alabama. Mary Jane went to glory on Saturday, September 7, 2024. She was preceded in death by her parents, William Thomas and Paula Elizabeth Colvett. She is survived by her sister, Virginia Bullington; her husband, Andy Kizer; her sons, Drew (Julie) Kizer, Ash (Candace) Kizer, MacKenzie (Rae) Kizer, and Barton (Allison) Kizer; her grandchildren, Ava Kizer, Caroline Kizer, Asa Kizer, Cole Kizer, Ezra Kizer, Jackson Kizer,
