Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Mary Faye Black

Mary Faye Black, 83, of Willisville, died suddenly in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007.

Mrs. Black, a former librarian, high school media coordinator and businesswoman, served 13 years on the Arkansas Board of Higher Education. She was born Oct. 18, 1923, in Willisville, and was the only daughter of Jennings Bryan Warmack and Alice Joy Hesterly Warmack.

She was an avid traveler who loved to read, lived in Lovington, New Mexico from 1952 to 1973 where she was a member of the General Federation of Womens Clubs and served as Iris Garden Club president. She worked as a junior high school librarian in New Mexico and was a delegate to National Education Association Convention in 1972. She was the media coordinator at Fairview High School in Camden and was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma professional society. She was a member of Willisville United Methodist Church where she served as organist for 32 years. She was a graduate of Henderson State University and Texas A&M - Commerce, where she earned a masters degree in library science. She served on the Arkansas Board of Higher Education from 1977-1990. She was the general partner of Warmack Limited Partnership Company in Willisville from 1987 until her death.

She was preceded in death by husbands, Roger L. Smith in 1966 and Leonard J. Black in 2006.

Survivors include her daughter, Sally Smith Malone of Little Rock; and a granddaughter, Rachel Anne Malone of Jackson, Miss.

Visitation was held at Lewis Funeral Home in Magnolia, from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

Funeral service was at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 10, at Lewis Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow at Willisville United Methodist Church Cemetery.

To sign the online guest book visit lewisfuneralhome.biz.