Obituary for Mary Lou Taylor
On February 24, 1944, in Prairie View, Texas, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence R. Bagwell were blessed with a beautiful baby girl they named Mary Lou. At the age of three, she started singing and never stopped. At the age of seven, Mary Lou and her little sister, Pat, lost their father. Their mother, Daisy remarried, Dr. Bradley G. Moore and soon after the family moved to Florida. Mary Lou attended Campbell Street High School in Daytona Beach, Florida; graduating as Salutatorian in 1961. Her love of singing started by that time, she had two more sister, Jackie and Gwen, and a brother Brad. The family would go on to relocate to Montgomery, Alabama and Mary Lou began college at Alabama State University where she pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Soon after, the family relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1963. Mary Lou attended Southern University briefly, then transferred to the school of her family’s heritage, Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.
Through all her matriculation, Mary Lou continued to sing her way into the hearts of countless people. Very active in the college and community choir, Ebenezer United Methodist Church became home base.
It was at Wiley College that she met the love of her life, Lonnie Taylor. After a world wind courtship, Mary Lou and Lonnie married, October 7, 1964. To this union was born a beautiful baby girl, Libbie Renee. Mary Lou’s heart. Mary Lou went on to graduate from Wiley College with a BA degree in Music with a concentration in voice. Always giving God praise for her gift, she sang wherever the Lord led her. She later received a master’s degree in Elementary Education at Prairie View A & M University.
Mary Lou taught music for many years and over generations of families in the Marshall Independent School District, none of which will ever forget her, Mary Lou had begun her sixteenth-year teaching at Libby Elementary School in Carthage Independent School District, Carthage, TX when the Lord called her home on October 29, 2021. Mary Lou not only impacted the lives of her family with her beautiful smile, her soft and caring demeaner, her genuine love and of course her beautiful and stunning voice, but also her friends, co-workers, and every community that she lived in throughout her life. She will be truly missed, but as she often sang, “It Is Well With My Soul”.
Mary Lou is survived by her loving husband, Lonnie, of 57 years; her daughter, Libbie Renee Taylor McCowan; granddaughter, Taylor Mechaelle McCowan (Robert Hodge); grandson, Morgan Jovan Flowers; great grandson, Kash Ahmad Hodge; sister, Patricia Wilson (Alfred) and Gwendolyn Livous; sisters-in-law, Geryl Tucker (James), Joyce Shirlee (Paul), Eloise Smith, Louis Haley, Kay Francis Wright; brothers-in-law, Emmitt Taylor, Jr. and Dale Taylor.
Mary Lou was preceded in death by her father, Lawrence R. Bagwell; mother, Daisy Moore; stepfather, Bradley G. Moore; sister, Jacquelyn Moore; brother, Bradley G. Moore III; brothers-in-law, Bobby Ray Taylor and Bobby Joe Smith.
Through all her matriculation, Mary Lou continued to sing her way into the hearts of countless people. Very active in the college and community choir, Ebenezer United Methodist Church became home base.
It was at Wiley College that she met the love of her life, Lonnie Taylor. After a world wind courtship, Mary Lou and Lonnie married, October 7, 1964. To this union was born a beautiful baby girl, Libbie Renee. Mary Lou’s heart. Mary Lou went on to graduate from Wiley College with a BA degree in Music with a concentration in voice. Always giving God praise for her gift, she sang wherever the Lord led her. She later received a master’s degree in Elementary Education at Prairie View A & M University.
Mary Lou taught music for many years and over generations of families in the Marshall Independent School District, none of which will ever forget her, Mary Lou had begun her sixteenth-year teaching at Libby Elementary School in Carthage Independent School District, Carthage, TX when the Lord called her home on October 29, 2021. Mary Lou not only impacted the lives of her family with her beautiful smile, her soft and caring demeaner, her genuine love and of course her beautiful and stunning voice, but also her friends, co-workers, and every community that she lived in throughout her life. She will be truly missed, but as she often sang, “It Is Well With My Soul”.
Mary Lou is survived by her loving husband, Lonnie, of 57 years; her daughter, Libbie Renee Taylor McCowan; granddaughter, Taylor Mechaelle McCowan (Robert Hodge); grandson, Morgan Jovan Flowers; great grandson, Kash Ahmad Hodge; sister, Patricia Wilson (Alfred) and Gwendolyn Livous; sisters-in-law, Geryl Tucker (James), Joyce Shirlee (Paul), Eloise Smith, Louis Haley, Kay Francis Wright; brothers-in-law, Emmitt Taylor, Jr. and Dale Taylor.
Mary Lou was preceded in death by her father, Lawrence R. Bagwell; mother, Daisy Moore; stepfather, Bradley G. Moore; sister, Jacquelyn Moore; brother, Bradley G. Moore III; brothers-in-law, Bobby Ray Taylor and Bobby Joe Smith.