Mary Dupree Talley died, August 7, 2012, after a along illness.

Funeral services were held Monday, August 13, at Sawmill Baptist Church in Bennettsville with pastor, Rev. James J. Anderson, officiating. Services were entrusted to Morris Funeral Cottage in Cheraw.

Mary Dupree Talley was born November 10, 1919, in Marlboro County, to Sallie Dupree and Willie Bass. Mary attended Coulter Academy in Cheraw, where she met and later married the late Conrad Talley. They had one daughter, the late Margaret Talley Byrd who was married to the late Wilson L. Byrds, Sr.

Talley leaves behind one sister, Bernice “Boots” Dupree Smalls and brothers, Silas “Teeny” William Dugree (Elena) both of New York and Willie Bass of Alabama, her three grandchildren, three great grandchildren, two great great grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and neighbors.

Mary lived and worked many years in New York before moving back to Bennettsville, in the late seventies to care for her ailing mother. Mary was a happy, outgoing person involved with the church. She was proud of being a member of Sawmill Baptist Church where she enjoyed serving on the Missionary Board.

Civil Rights and voting were also important to her. She often spoke of having once met the Reverend Jessie Jackson during her work in Civil Rights. She worked hard on voter registration, being presented the Harriet Award for the number of new voters she signed up.

Mary rode her bicycle nearly everywhere until she was eighty-four and was affectionately know as “the bicycle lady.” Mary Dupree loved God. She was a talker who loved people and didn’t mind speaking her mind. When someone lives as long as Mary Talley lived, there are many stories that could be told-some happy and some sad, but most important is that “Big Momma,” as she was affectionately called by her grandchildren, was loved and she will be missed by those who knew her.