Mary Cobb

Mary Ellen Harper Cobb, 98, died peacefully at Peyton House Hospice in Fairlea on July 22, 2026.

She was born September 29, 1927 to James Henry and Eula Lee (Henderson) Harper in Lebanon, Virginia.

Mary Ellen served as medical secretary for the doctors of Clinch Valley Clinic Hospital (CVCH) in Richlands, Virginia. In the early 1950’s she was recruited by one of the CVCH doctors to become medical records librarian at Greenbrier Valley Hospital in Ronceverte, West Virginia, where she met her future husband, Ernest Tinsley Cobb, MD.

She was a member of the Greenbrier Valley Medical Auxiliary and edited/illustrated their cookbook featuring recipes from doctors and their wives throughout West Virginia. She was an accomplished baker who won several ribbons for breads and cakes at the State Fair of West Virginia.

Mary Ellen was a longtime member of Ronceverte Presbyterian Church, where she was an ordained Deacon, member of the Ladies’ Circle, and organizer of a weekly prayer group.

She was preceded in death by her husband and by her sister, Anna Louise Harper Bower of Richlands, Virginia. Mary Ellen is survived by her three children, James Hutton of Los Angeles, California, Ellen Louise Sorget (Scot) of Aberdeen, North Carolina, and Jane Tinsley Gillespie (John) of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; by grandchildren Stephen H. Baldwin (Kerry) and Alexandra Baldwin Johnston (Craig); and by great-grandchildren Ethan Johnston and Harrison Baldwin.

Funeral service will be held Saturday, July 25 at 2:00 PM at Ronceverte Presbyterian Church. Visitation at the church will be one hour prior to the service on Saturday. Interment at Riverview Cemetery in Ronceverte will follow the service.

The family requests that memorial donations be made to Ronceverte Presbyterian Church.