Mary Sue Marshall Soles Hatcher
What follows here is what may or may not be the last published remembrance of Mary Sue Marshall Soles Hatcher. This account is solely in the voice of her daughter, Anita, who spent the last few years with her. It will not read like your typical third-party neutral obituary written by an obit columnist because Mary Sue was anything but typical and I’m not an obituary columnist.
Mary Sue was born at home on Dinwiddie Street in the Berkeley section of South Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia on Valentine’s Day of 1936 during the coldest and snowiest winter on record. It was a cold day and I know what you’re thinking. She left the physical body here on this earth while in hospice and respite care at Chipola Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Marianna, Florida on May 9, 2025. She was dressed in a Hawaiian print shirt and passed at 5:01 p.m. which was her final ode to the fact that it is always 5 o’clock somewhere and she was dressed for the occasion.
She lost her mother, Susie Frances Hodges Marshall when she was only 12 years old and her father, Edgar Chesley Marshall, when she was but 22. She was the sixth of six children and the only girl. If you knew her, that begins to explain things. She attended Robert Gatewood Elementary School, Ruffner Middle School, Maury High School and Kempsville High School. She left high school to marry a merchant marine; not an uncommon practice for a young woman following World War II. That marriage blessed her with her oldest child, Brandon Wade Soles, of Grand Ridge. Her early adventures and travels eventually brought her to Miami, Florida where she became a life-long friend of Wyolene Hatcher Kirkland, and through her, met the love of her life, her husband, W. A. Hatcher, who preceded her in death on July 29, 2015. To think that Mary Sue lived almost ten years without him is almost unthinkable. But guess what, Daddy? Tag. You’re it.
And yet, if you knew her, you knew. When W.A. and Mary Sue moved to Grand Ridge from Miami in December 1969, some people, W.A.’s relatives even, said that he “would not be able to keep that city girl in the country.” Undoubtedly, Mary Sue waited so long to die so that she could be the last one standing. That is the stubbornness, willpower, and tenacity that marked Mary Sue. Those who knew her, knew this well. Mary Sue outlived all five of her brothers: Chesley, Roland, Beverley, Garland, and Vernon and all but one of their spouses, Harriett Marshall of Virginia Beach and went to none of their funerals. Likewise, none will be in attendance at hers. She did, however, attend all the funerals of W.A.’s siblings and their spouses: John Henry (Ali B.), Audalene (Russell), Wyolene (James), and Lloyd (Patsy). All three of her children remain to talk about her amongst themselves: Brandon Wade Soles of Grand Ridge, Anita Wyolene Hatcher currently of Tallahassee, and William Hatcher, Jr. (Bill) and his husband Sheff Devier of Ft. Lauderdale. Mary Sue leaves behind a granddaughter, Selena Marie Soles and the absolute light of her life, her grandson, Ethan James Powderly. Ethan and Mary Sue had a special bond from the very beginning as she was there at his birth and helped bring him into this world. The two spoke daily until her death; each carrying many secrets for the other into perpetuity.
There are always numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews and extended family still living on the occasion of a person’s death and always too numerous to list by name in an obituary; and honestly, if you’re reading the obits just to see your name, you need to choose better reading material. While we are not supposed to have favorites, but love everyone equally, it would be remiss to not name those for whom Mary Sue had a treasured place in her life and heart. Mary Sue had favorites. If you knew her, you knew. Those who immediately come to mind are, first and foremost, her great-nephew, James Joseph Kirkland of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and two of her nieces, Cindy Marshall of Norfolk, Virginia and Elaine Chevalier of Wake Forest, North Carolina. She also held a special kinship with Bridget Powderly and Wayne Cameron of Manchester, New York as well as Anthony Ventura, his wife, Meg, and their girls, Chloe and Isabella of Lakeville, New York. And it would almost go without saying, but would be a huge faux pas, to not name her dear sister-friend, Katherine Hewitt of Chattahoochee, Florida. The dearest and most special family-by-way-of-family to her are Shailynn and Roland Ross and their son – counted as a bonus grandson – Linwood, of Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia; Jessie Norris, Shawn and Lilith Franklin of Middleway, West Virginia, and Cierra Dupont, Cameron, and Eliza Beatrice of Beaufort, South Carolina. Mary Sue counted anyone as family that her children counted as family, until they had reason not to. And then, with unquestioning devoutness, she would shed these people from her life as well. It was the unwavering loyalty of a mother and steadfast trust in her children's decisions. If you knew her, you knew this.
No one is perfect. No parent is perfect. But there are perfect moments in every life. Mary Sue’s perfect moments came in her passion for sewing. She once spent the entire Thanksgiving week making harem-style dance pants for the Chipola Junior College Signals dance team. Later in life, she began to make baby quilts, known as biscuit quilts, for special family and friends. The first one was gifted to Ryne Danford over 20 years ago and the last going to Chloe Ventura. Two quilts went across the Atlantic; one going as a gift to extended family in Czechoslovakia and one to be shown to family and relatives in Ghana before being brought back to the U.S. There are literally pieces of Mary Sue’s meticulous handiwork around the world.
She loved the color blue and butterflies. Yellow roses may have been her favorite flower although she loved every growing thing and said that if God ever needed to take back the earth he would just let the plants grow over everything man-made. There were always small bottles in the kitchen windowsill with leaves and stems rooting to become a full-grown plant one day. And another thing to mow around in the yard.
Mary Sue liked a hot coffee in the morning and a very sweet iced coffee in the afternoon; although growing up there was an occasional rum and coke on the dining room table in the afternoon. No lime. I tried toasting her memory with that drink and could not do it. Another way she was a stronger person than me. And to the congregation of the Grand Ridge United Methodist Church, if you think that yearly summer churn of pina colada ice cream had no rum in it, well, then you were lying to yourself on purpose because you knew how good it was.
Mother always rooted for the underdog, whether in life or sports and believed fully in the overcoming power of sheer will and right and justice to prevail. She was an ally and advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, giving of her time and finances to support the work of Equality Florida. Almost no one knows that mother was interviewed by ABC Australia in March 2023 for a documentary. When the reporter asked her why she had no political signs in her yard her reply was swift, “If people can’t tell what I think by how I live, I don’t need a sign in my yard.” That is perhaps one of the greatest messages Mary Sue could have left us; to live so that people know what you think and how you believe by the way you live your life. Those who still remain on this side of the earthly veil are left to remember her in whatever way they choose. There is no right or wrong way; unless of course, you choose to not remember her at all.
In that attempt to remember, or try to forget, no doubt many will recall some of her pithy statements. If they were cutting, it was only because the truth cuts deep. One of her oft-spouted favorites was, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” So, if you have read this far in this rambling reminiscence, make it your intention and follow through to get in touch with those you know and love before you read about them in the paper.
Mary Sue always got the last word. So those of you mentioned here hold a place of high honor. Mother tasked me with extending earthly gratitude and heavenly crowns to Ellen Blankenship of Grand Ridge and Melissa Farley of Tallahassee, without whose support, understanding, experience, love, and friendship, I am certain I would not have been able to put up with mother and not only keep her alive these last five years, but learn and grow immeasurably from the experience.
In lieu of flowers, please donate in Mary Sue’s name to conscious closet_wv, a non-profit serving the homeless and those in transient living conditions in Morgantown, WV or Equality FL. Both organizations are easily locatable on social media platforms. Or, literally, just Google it. She’s gonna know. She’s Mary Sue.
And now, please laugh. Her other favorite saying was, “Laugh! If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry your eyes out.”
Arrangements are entrusted to the Lambe family at Marianna Chapel Funeral Home.