Mary received her formal education in the Milwaukee Public Schools and at Milwaukee Area Technical College. She married Norris Jackson Wood in Hampton, Arkansas, on March 21, 1978; she returned to Milwaukee in 2010 to take care of her mother. Mary loved spending time with family and friends, traveling, and playing bingo at every opportunity.

Mary is preceded in death by her mother, Allean S. Gray; her father, Joe Bill Gray; her husband, Norris Jackson Wood; and her granddaughter, Malaysha B. Smith.

Mary leaves to cherish her memory one daughter, Tina Gray Childs of Milwaukee; two sons: Charleston Lee Gray (Resmin) of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Norris Jackson Wood Jr. of Milwaukee; one granddaughter, Whitney Johnson (LaNea) of Milwaukee; three grandsons: Jacob, Isaiah, and Jeremiah Gray of Madison, Wisconsin; and one great granddaughter, Coreanna Allean Elizabeth Watson of Milwaukee.

A celebration of Mary’s life was held on November 8 at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.