Mary Alice Yelverton

It is with heavy hearts that we share with you the passing of our mother, Mary Alice Reavis Yelverton. She went Home to the Lord at 9:10 pm on September 10, 2025, succumbing to the complications of a recently diagnosed, aggressive cancer. She was the last of her siblings and is survived by her two children, Anthony Byron and Cheryl Lynn.

We can only describe our mother as fierce, loving and intelligent. During the Civil Rights Movement and the Jackson presidential campaign, she worked tirelessly to communicate messages of freedom, fairness and equality and assisted residents in our local communities with voter registration. Her community involvement taught us that changes at smaller, more intimate levels can have significant impact on a phenomenal scale. As a single mother, she earned a college degree while working full time and raising 2 children. She made sure we stayed healthy and fed and capable, while encouraging us to find our own paths.

When I, Cheryl, think of our mother, I remember the woman who was so fiercely protective that she accompanied me to our front yard, bearing a butcher's knife and a shovel so that I could lay on a blanket in the yard late at night to complete a college astronomy class assignment. She cared for me through the multiple orthopedic operations and endless physical therapy that featured prominently in my life. She is also the woman who effortlessly killed an unfortunate, 4-foot snake who wandered into my garage while she helped me move into my house. She quickly beheaded the snake with a shovel, disposed of it and then went back to work moving boxes and furniture. Clearly one of us grew up around snakes and the other did not. She shared our joys and our accomplishments just as fiercely. When I graduated from medical school, she stood up in the pew in the Duke University chapel where graduation services were held to photograph me as I walked for my diploma, displacing and practically standing on an unsuspecting gentleman in her way. She got her photo.

When I, Tony, think of our mother, I am reminded of the woman who attended my high school basketball games, cheering on my team and then taking some of my teammates and I out to a fast-food dinner of our choice. A team mom letting her real and adopted sons let off post-game steam in a little good-natured, clean fun. She instinctively knew how to protect us during the 1971 Sylmar earthquake when none of us had ever previously encountered such an event. Guiding and supporting us through our pain, our struggles, our triumphs and our joys, separate and mutual, our mother’s love and warmth lives on in every word and in every interaction, we have and will ever experience. The lives we have touched and will touch going forward are, through us, the lives she will continue to influence. Forged into the unique souls we have become, we are her legacy.

With her intolerance of fanfare, Mary declined funeral services, and we respect her wishes. In lieu of services we request that all who wish to do so, please consider donating to the American Cancer Society in her memory.