Palestine High School Alumni Association

10 / 04 / 1911  –  08 / 30 / 2007

The life of Mary Elizabeth Graham Dickson will be celebrated on Saturday at Grace United Methodist Church in Palestine, with Dr. Tom Haygood and the Rev. Lynn Willhite officiating. Burial will follow in Palestine City Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Bailey & Foster Funeral Home, Palestine.

The family will receive friends at Bailey & Foster Funeral Home from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Mary was born October 4, 1911, in Monroe, La. to Margaret Campbell and Wade Barnes Graham. After graduating from Palestine High School, she attended Nixon Business College and began working for Missouri Pacific Railroad. In 1936, she married Carl Summers Dickson and they moved to Palestine where they made their home together until Carl’s death in 1969.

She retired from Palestine ISD after tenure as a manager of Alamo School Cafeteria.  In addition to being a devoted wife and mother, she was an excellent cook and talented seamstress and crafter often sewing her own designs. An avid reader, she kept up with current events and enjoyed a lively conversation about politics.

Mary was a member of the Grace United Methodist Church where she taught Sunday school, was president of UMW and Guild and served on various boards and committees. She loved to sing and sang in the choir at Grace United Methodist Church until she moved to Tyler where she joined Pollard United Methodist Church.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents; beloved husband of 34 years, Carl Summers Dickson; brother, Charles Lydell Graham; sisters, Margaret Sullivan, Loretta Torma and Lois Graham.

She is survived by daughters and their husbands; Margaret and Bill Garrison of Katy and Libby and Homer Kennedy of Tyler; grandchildren, Greg and Catherine Garrison of Galveston, Kristi and Michael McCullough of Alvin, Jennie Garrison of Katy, Rob Beard of Tyler, Ron Beard of Whitehouse, Charley and Jessica Kennedy of Flint, seven great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank our extended family at Pinehurst Alzheimer’s Care Center and Heart to Heart Hospice for the tender and loving care given to each of us

Pallbearers will be grandchildren. Honorary pallbearers are Wade Sullivan, Carroll Sullivan, George Torma, Steve Torma, Frank Torma, Dick James, John Hafner and Harold Roach.

In lieu of flowers, the family request remembrances be made to the building fund at Grace United Methodist Church, 1918 E. Murchison St., Palestine, TX. 75801. Guestbook

Source: Palestine Herald-Press 08-31-2007