Mary Dorothy Wood Long
Birth:     Sep. 24, 1919 - Baltimore, Maryland
Death:   May 23, 1998 - Charlotte, North Carolina

ROCK HILL - Mrs. Mary Dorothy Wood Long, 78, of 1944 Greenfield Drive died Saturday, May 3, 1998, at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte.

A memorial service was held 4 p.m. Sunday at St. John's United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Tim McClendon officiating.

When Mary Long passed away in 1998, newspaper headlines named her "South Carolina's Grand Lady of History".  Mary Dorothy Wood Long was born in September 1919 (shown in several places as September 23 or 24) to Robert Elmer Wood, Jr. and Margaret Anne Schoolbred. Her date of death is listed variously as May 3, May 15, or May 23 1998 (May 3 in her obituary and May 23 on her death certificate). She was the wife of William Ivey Long, Jr., with whom she lived at their homes in LongAcres on Roanoke Island, NC and in Rock Hill, SC.

Mary earned a master's degree from Northwestern University and was an English and Drama teacher at Rock Hill High School for 20 years. Mrs. Long was the first drama teacher in South Carolina public schools. She worked for WNSC in Rock Hill and was also a producer for SCETV, having produced and hosted "Mary Long's Yesteryear" for many years. Mary was an alumni of the University of North Carolina (received her A.B. degree) and a member of the Chi Omega Club, the SC Parks & Recreation Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, Daughters of the American Revolution, the Outlook Club, and St. John's United Methodist Church in Rock Hill. She won South Carolina's first Ms. Senior SC Pageant and went on to represent the state in the national pageant, after which she continued on in the Ms. Senior SC Association. For twenty years, she was involved with the Manteo, NC outdoor drama "The Lost Colony" (ten of those years as Queen Elizabeth I in the production). Mary also starred in a BI-LO commercial, starred as Hatchet Annie in a local production, and starred in several historical documentaries.

Surviving are two sons, William I. Long III of New York City and Robert Hamilton Long of Chapel Hill, N.C.; her daughter, Laura Ann Long of the home; and three grandchildren.

The family received friends at the church following the service.

Memorials may be made to the St. John's United Methodist Church, 321 S. Oakland Ave., Rock Hill, SC 29730 or to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 2535, Rock Hill, SC 29732.

Mary's remains were cremated  (location unknown).

Note:  Information assembled from her newspaper obituary plus information from Find-a-Grave Memorial #167654630.

A favorite poem of hers quoted in the Ms. Senior SC Pageant:

A Stumbling Block Or A Stepping Stone

Isn't it strange how princes and kings,
and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
and common people, like you and me,
are builders for eternity?

Each is given a list of rules;
a shapeless mass; a bag of tools.
And each must fashion, ere life is flown,
A stumbling block, or a Stepping-Stone.
              R. L. Sharpe