Mary Jane Heald Walley

Mary Jane Heald Walley of Long Beach, MS, passed away on Thursday, April 14, 2016 at the age of 74. She had worked as a registered nurse in Vicksburg and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for over thirty years in intensive care and hospice, providing strength, comfort, and crocheted cuddleables for co-workers, patients, and their families right up until the week of her death. Her favorite topics of discussion included the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina where she was born; horses, of which she had owned and loved many throughout her life; and Walt Disney World, for which she enjoyed planning family vacations--her own and other people's--over the course of nearly three decades. Mary was predeceased by her son Rob Walley; her husband, Donald McEachern Walley; her brother Philip Huntley Heald; her parents, Anna Catherine Coin Heald and Cliffton Rush Heald Jr., and her beloved grandmother Eliza "Mommy Jacque" McCracken Coin. She is survived by her sister, Diana Heald, and brother Rush Heald (Christa); her son Gordon Walley and daughter, Becca Walley; her daughter-in-law, Sam Walley; her five grandchildren, Robert Walley (Beth), Meg Walley (Dave Noonan), Hope Walley, Hailey Walley, and Jordan Walley; and her two great-grandchildren, Vera Noonan and Maddie Walley. Her memorial service will be Thursday, April 21 at 5 p.m. at Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home, 15th St., Gulfport, where friends may visit beginning at 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Humane Society of South Mississippi, 2615 25th Ave, Gulfport, MS 39501. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokefe.com