Mary Taylor Hatton was born on March 26, 1931 in Savageville, Virginia to Ambrose G. and Marion Beckett Taylor. She departed this life on April 5, 2023 at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mary was raised on her father’s farm in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Their mother required them to attend church nearly every Sunday. At an early age, Mary joined Gaskins Chapel AME Church in Savageville, Virginia, where she dedicated herself to serving the Lord.
Mary attended public schools in Accomack County from kindergarten through high school. After graduating from high school, she met and fell in love with William Hatton from the Eastern Shore. They moved to and married in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where they would spend most of their long happy life together. “Bill,” as he was called, brought Patsy and Billie from Delaware, his children from his first marriage, as a loving part of this union. Mary worked as a seamstress, sewing sofa and chair slipcovers, and other garments, in the textile industry; for the John Wanamaker and Strawbridge and Clothier Department Stores in Philadelphia.
Mary lived a good life and she had a pleasant spirit in almost every situation. She loved her sisters, but also loved her many nieces and nephews, and stayed in close contact with all members of her family right up to her passing. She was affectionately regarded as the holder of the 6 and 10 o’clock family news. There was not anything that she was not aware of throughout the family, and if you needed to know the whereabouts of a cousin or other family member, all you had to do was to call Aunt Mary. She has been responsible for keeping the younger generations of her family together and had become the de facto matriarch of the Taylor clan. To her friends, Mary was like an ever-present mother, treating everyone as one of her children, grandchildren, or family.
Mary was a member of Christ Community Baptist Church in Philadelphia on North 41st St. where she worshipped for over 40 years. She enjoyed serving in the Pastor’s Aid Ministry, ensuring that the Pastor’s mission was being fulfilled. God was ever present in her life. She lived life not by saying, but by doing and including others. She was a constant source of kindness and encouragement to all she knew. Mary was always ready to go, and one of her favorite things to do in earlier years was go to the movies. Mary’s favorite places to visit were the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Delaware, and New York to visit family. The Hatton family would meet 3-4 times a year to be together and enjoy one another. Aunt Mary also greatly enjoyed gatherings with her Taylor family on the Eastern Shore and Fredericksburg, Virginia on holidays, graduations, family reunions, or any special occasion.
Mary leaves to cherish fond memories: her loving husband, Bill Hatton; her step-children, Patsy and Billie; two step-grandchildren, Link and Rocky; her nephew, Hamilton Ward, Jr. (who was like a son); four siblings, Marion Keesee, Sheila Williams (Lindsey), Anita Selby, and Gregory Taylor (Sheila); two brothers-in-law, Wesley Hatton and Albert McClain; sister-in-law, Ernestine Hatton Edmond; and a host of cousins, nieces, and nephews, all of whom she loved dearly. Mary was preceded in death by her two brothers, Theodore Taylor, Sr. and Paige Giddings; and five sisters, Thelma Bailey, Elsie Dennis, Shirley McClain, Doris Dowdy, and Julia Ward.