Mimi Patterson Mays of Florence, Alabama, passed away on the evening of April 16, 2026. She was held close and cared for tenderly.
Mimi was born on September 12, 1944, in Nashville, Tennessee, to Mildred Smith Patterson and Maynard Overton Patterson. She was preceded in death by both parents and her husband of 58 years, Audie Lee Mays. She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Kelly Mays, of Florence; nephew, Gerald Williams, of Florence; and nephew, Cordie Williams, of Oakdale, New York.
Mimi also leaves behind innumerable extended family, adopted family, and beloved, cherished friends who feel her loss deeply. No phone call from a friend ever went unanswered.
She was “Aunt Mimi” to Cooper, Sophie, Cordie, and Rys Williams, “Gigi” to Kate and Jack Lynch, Godmother to Mary Francis Holland Cox, and “Momma Mimi” to those she loved best and nurtured most.
One well-loved family dog, Joe, and one well-tolerated hound, Mama Dog, are among the souls who are lost without her.
She was the center of Kelly’s world and her best friend. In recent difficult days, Mimi’s friends have gently reminded Kelly of something she has always known: she was at the heart of her mother’s every thought and decision. What a blessing to love and to be loved so completely, unconditionally, and generously.
Mimi graduated from Florence’s Coffee High School, Class of 1962, where she was a football cheerleader and member of the Nenon Club. She began her lifelong love of sewing in high school and was a talented seamstress. Her core group of childhood friends and co-conspiring high school “girls” remained close – and in close contact – for all the days that followed.
After high school, Mimi attended Mississippi State College for Women, where, notably, women were permitted to smoke only while sitting down. (Not that she ever did that!)
Mimi’s husband, Audie, was a career United States Army Officer before joining the private sector, which meant Mimi was “in the Army”, too. Being an officer’s wife meant frequent household moves, around the country and sometimes the world, regular entertaining, military parades, pomp and circumstance, white gloves, and “promotion punch”. An officer’s wife and children are a direct reflection of him; a responsibility Mimi never took lightly. Wherever the family was stationed, she made a warm and stylish home…many times over. She and Audie shared a deep love of our country and a sense of duty.
Throughout Kelly’s childhood, Mimi chose careers that would allow her to be home outside of her daughter’s school hours (much to teenage Kelly’s chagrin), first teaching pre-school and kindergarten and later working in real estate. She held a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Troy State University (class of 1975, Who’s Who in American Universities & Colleges).
Mimi had a lifelong love of horses, something she passed along to Kelly “in spades.” The two rode together daily during Kelly’s high school years, and Mimi often said, some of her best memories were made on the back of a horse. They celebrated Mimi’s 70th birthday at a dude ranch in Wyoming, as Mimi always wanted to see the Grand Tetons from horseback before she died, and indeed, she did.
Mimi found her true calling in nursing, a career she pursued later in life. While the family was living in Maryland, she was accepted into the rigorous, accelerated program offered by The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She graduated with honors in 1991, a proud member of the second class of this newly founded program. She initially worked in Women’s Oncology at Johns Hopkins, often providing loving, steady end-of-life care for patients and, by extension, their families.
When Mimi and Audie moved back to Florence in the 1990’s to care for their aging parents, she found great joy as a Labor and Delivery nurse at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital. She developed such strong bonds with her patients and their families that she was often asked to be present when their second and third babies were born. She never minded staying on after her shift to help a patient bring their new baby into the world.
After retirement, she was the de facto “Google nurse” for family and friends…long before there was a Google. She and Audie enjoyed life at their lake home for many years, where there were ever-present menageries of Border Collies, guinea hens (“for the dogs”), goats (“to mow the grass”), vegetable gardens she tended with her father, and flower gardens “tended” by the goats. Later, there would be two rescue donkeys (“to protect the goats”).
She stitched up, nursed, and rehomed countless stray dogs brought home by Audie. She even bottle-raised a baby deer one summer.
She remained an avid seamstress throughout retirement, meticulously hand-sewing beautiful heirloom children’s clothing that will undoubtedly be passed down from generation to generation. She also took up quilting and made many friends in this pursuit – fellow “fabric addicts.
In recent years, after she lost Audie, she was blessed to be included in her neighbors’ “Mee” card group, which she looked forward to weekly. These special ladies became close friends, helping her stay connected and sharp, sharing many laughs and meals. They are counted among the many who already miss her dearly.
Mimi lived a life marked by service, humor, beauty, loyalty, and fierce love. She made people feel cared for. She made ordinary days special.
As she always said, “Love you more”.
Memorial gathering will be held on Friday, June 12th, from 3:00-5:00 pm CDT.
Sweetwater Depot / 502 S. Royal Avenue / Florence, Alabama 35630
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Mimi’s memory to:
Heart of Alabama: Save, Rescue, Adopt (HASRA) or MDS/MPN International Working Group (newly established 501c3 researching Mimi’s very rare blood cancer: www.givebutter.com/mds-mpn-iwg)
