BY MEGAN ASHLEY FINK

NATCHEZ — At 109, Mary Louise Shields still remained an active inspiration and role model for those whose lives she touched.

Shields, the last living founder of the Natchez Spring Pilgrimage, died on Friday at the age of 109.

Friends say she will be missed by her family, her friends and the city of Natchez, which she served with dedication for many years.

PGC board member Ruthie Coy said Shields was a lifelong friend who became like family to her.

“She was one of my grandmothers,” Coy said.

Shields was supportive of the younger garden club members, Coy said.

“She encouraged us and gave us advice,” Coy said. “She took the role of a supportive, older person in the family, which I didn’t have at that time … I have a special fondness for her.”

PGC board member Marsha Colson said Shields was an inspiration.

“She will always be an inspiration,” Colson said. “She was an amazing woman.”

Shields owned the Coca-Cola Company in Natchez, and Colson said her business savvy was impressive.

“In all the meetings I was in with her, her business experience showed through,” Colson said. “She was smart. What’s amazing to me is that she looks like this sweet, little, delicate, gentle lady, but she was a strong lady, too.”

Shields was also an ambassador for tourism for decades.

“She was dedicated to tourism in Natchez,” Coy said. “She would carry that dedication in a lovely, cultured and polite way from 1932, when she was in that group of ladies (which founded the Natchez Pilgrimage) until she closed her house when she was well over 100 years old. She would continue to greet people on her porch, the tourists who came through, and welcome them to Natchez.”

Historic Natchez Foundation Executive Director Mimi Miller said Shields remained active in the community even after she turned 100.

“She was charming, coquettish, interested in everything, still participating and making good decisions past 100,” Miller said.

Miller remembers Shields for her vibrant, involved spirit.

“I remember when she was in her 90s, she appeared at Phillip West’s inauguration as mayor (the first black man elected mayor since Reconstruction), she thought it was important that she be there and show her support,” Miller said. “I don’t think she voted for him, I doubt she did. But she was there to be part of it.”

Shields’ active role in Natchez in her later years was notable among her friends and colleagues.

“When I first became president of the garden club, she was getting around, but she wasn’t as strong as she used to be,” Colson said. “We had meetings upstairs above the Carriage House, and those stairs are steep. She hadn’t been to a meeting in a while, but she came to the first meeting I conducted and walked up those stairs to support me.”

Colson said Shields would be a lasting influence for the city.

“Her spirit will be with us,” she said.

Coy said Shields is a role model.

“It’s a good lesson to all of us in how to make the most of our lives with whatever we’re given,” Coy said. “She was active way longer than most of us are able to, more than just socially. That’s a pretty good lesson for all of us, I think. Seize the day, I say. You never know how long you’re going to have. It might be a few years or it might be 109.”

Funeral arrangements are pending.