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Obituary for Mary DeSha Dye Montgomery
Mary DeSha Dye was born January 27, 1945 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. She was the daughter of Allen Millsaps Dye, Sr. and Singleton Mills Dye. She was delivered by her grandfather Dr. T. M. Dye. She was the eldest of three children, herself and two younger brothers (Allen Millsaps Dye, Jr and David Dye). The family lived in DeKalb, Carthage and Clarksdale. She graduated from high school in Clarksdale. DeSha graduated from Millsaps College in 1967. While at Millsaps she was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. Following graduation, she married a young lawyer fresh out of law school, Samuel A. Montgomery. DeSha worked as a research assistant in the Microbiology Department at the University of Mississippi Medical School. In 1974 Sam accepted a position with hearings branch of Social Security Administration. DeSha moved to Montgomery, Alabama when Sam’s career began to progress. While in Montgomery, their first son, Kevin (1978), was born and their second son, Eric (1981), was born a few years later after having moved to Birmingham. Then in 1989, the family moved back to Jackson, Mississippi. DeSha had a lifelong love of music and sang in a number of church choirs over the years. She last sung with the choir at Madison United Methodist Church. While in college, she sang in the chorus of a production of Charles Gounod’s opera, Faust. DeSha was also a lifelong Methodist and a member of the United Methodist Women. Later in life, she became a published poet and occasionally took on an odd craft project of pine needle basketry, the occasional mosaic and the random sewing project for one the boys for a school production. Desha also had a strong love for bird watching and would pull out her trusted field guide to identify a bird that would land on the bird feeder outside her breakfast room window. After Sam’s retirement as an Administrative Law Judge in 2006, Sam resumed law practice and DeSha worked part time for his practice. After his retirement from the government, DeSha and Sam traveled extensively visiting 20 different countries. DeSha passed away peacefully on January 30, 2021 at Baptist Medical Center in Jackson. Due to the pandemic there will be a small private family service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Audubon Society or other charities promoting wildlife and conservation.
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