Mary Katherine Fields

Mary Katherine Lewis- Fields, 72, of Ocala, Florida, affectionately known by family and friends as "Kay", was called home to be with The Lord following a short illness. Born August 27, 1951 in Beckley, West Virginia. She was the daughter of the late Rev. Nicholas C. and Mabel Lewis. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and attended Beckley College, both in Beckley, West Virginia and Prince George's Community College, Largo, Maryland, earning a Technical Degree. She was employed by the Bank of Raleigh, Columbia Gas Company and Raleigh General Hospital all in Beckley, West Virginia. After relocating to Camp Springs, Maryland, she was employed by the Federal Government, working on Andrew's Air Force Base, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention until her retirement August 30, 2013. Kay was baptized at an early age in Beckley, West Virginia, where she was a faithful and active member of First Baptist, North Beckley Church until 1977. She, then united with the Saint Paul Baptist Temple, Beckley, West Virginia, under the pastoral leadership of her beloved husband, Pastor Welton Fields, Jr. In 1988, Kay united with the Southern Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Washington, DC where her husband was called to pastor. As the First Lady, she became affectionately known as "Lady Kay". Lady Kay was a faithful servant of God. While a member of Southern Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Maryland, she was active in the Diaconate Ministry, Women's Ministry, Sunday School and Bible Study. She served as a New Disciple Instructor for the Youth and Overseer of the Church Computer Ministry. She served as the President of the Women's Ministry and Coordinator for the Martin Luther King Day Celebrations. In short, she worked tirelessly with her pastor and husband, Pastor Welton Fields, to help build the ministry God had placed in their charge. Lady Kay was a lover of people, and it manifested itself as she interacted with people. She was just a "down to earth" First Lady who found freedom in being whom God made her to be. One of her greatest joys in life came in 2011 when she and her husband traveled to Salawa, Kenya in Africa to serve our sisters and brothers on the mission field. It was indeed a life changing experience. It made her aware, more than ever, that here in America, we are so blessed and have absolutely no reason to complain. After surviving a double brain aneurysm in 1997 and breast cancer in 2014, Lady Kay was thankful and so grateful for being graced by God's tender mercies. She chose as her favorite passage of Scripture, Lamentations 3:22-23: " Because of The Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness". Lady Kay was preceded in death by her daughter, Nicole Fields; sisters, Betty Ash Mulgrave, Mamie Young, Vee Vee Williams, Genolia Boyden, Gerta Mae Murray; and brother, Leon Lewis. As she journeyed home to celebrate her victory with the angels and saints in Heaven, she leaves to cherish her memory her devoted husband of 52 years, Rev. Dr. Welton Fields, Jr.; a daughter, Andrea Russell-Wendell of Burke, Virginia; a son Brian Oneal Fields of Perry Point, Maryland; six grandchildren, Nicholas Ariel, Philip, Antonio, Roland, and Zoe; one sister, Phyllis (Robert) LaLande of Roosevelt, New York; two brothers, Randolph Lewis and James Alvin Lewis both of Cincinnati, Ohio; and a host of relatives and friends.

Mary Katherine Fields

August 27, 1951 - October 11, 2023