Mary Evelyn Berry was 94 years old when she passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by her loving family.

She was born the 5 ^th of 11 children to parents Artis Berry and Rachel Butler Berry, who both preceded her in death.   In 1948, she graduated from Allen University with a Bachelor of Science degree.  After graduation, she moved to Queens, New York where she worked as a New York State Social Worker in the Healthcare field for over 35 years.

Mary was devoted to her family and friends, and nurtured a lifelong love of poetry, reading, gardening, the performing arts and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Mary introduced the cultural arts at an early age to her niece, Reta.  Every weekend it would be a different adventure to Manhattan to visit the National Museum of African Art, then midtown to see a Broadway play or the Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe, downtown to the Museum of Natural History and sometimes across town to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens where Mary would teach her to identify the exotic plants on the pavilions.   Then there were her excursions at the Health Food Stores.  Mary was a pillar of health; you would never catch her without her Apple Cider Vinegar or Goji Juice.   She lived to 94 years without having ever been on any medication, not even a Tylenol.  After 35 years of service, Mary retired from New York State Social Work, lived a few years with her sister Redella in Illinois, and returned home to Harleyville, SC where she became a faithful member of the Greater St. Paul AME Church.

Mary was the family's Poet Laureate.  She could recite a verse on command and never kept any written material.  In South Carolina, on any summer day she could be found puttering around her rose beds and vegetable garden, a pair of clippers in hand and shooing away the beetles.  Her gardening skills, handed down by her mother, Rachel were legendary.  Mary was fiery, sharp-witted, and blessed with a great sense of humor.  So, her love for shopping was no problem when she would have, Evola Riley, Barbara Berry and Linza Britt hauling up and down the roads to St. George and Summerville stores.  Jeanette would be lugging her 10-pound flowerpots she purchased from Home Goods, Cindy waiting for hours for her to come out of Walmart, and Reta driving her to Mount Pleasant to Whole Foods while she marveled over the fresh fruit.  The next week, you would go to her home to find that all the things she purchased had been given away.   That's right, Mary was a huge "giver".  You would never leave her house empty handed.

Mary will be lovingly remembered by sisters, Redella (John) McCants of Mascoutah, IL, and Rachel S. Cooper of Gary, IN, sister-in-law, Sally Berry of Greenwood, SC, Caretaker/niece, Reta Berry of Harleyville, SC and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, family and friends.

The world has lost a phenomenal woman, friend, and mentor.