Mary Lee (Smith) Duff

Mary Lee (Smith) Duff passed away Monday January 4th, 2021 at the age of 100. She was a true Texas lady born in Fort Worth, Texas to the late Roy and Rose (Officer) Smith. Mary spent a lot of time with family in the Cleburne area. Having lived through the Great Depression, which she carried with her throughout life, she never forgot what being hungry and without felt like. She later moved to Ferris where she met and married the love of her life, Robert Bryant Duff. The two were married 37 years and longtime members of First Presbyterian Church in Ferris. Together they had two beautiful daughters. Mary worked at Bell Telephone Company in Dallas in her early years followed by Southland Life Insurance before retiring from Mercantile National Bank. She is remembered for her beautiful fashion and her big Texas hair that she had done in Ennis every Saturday. It would stay in place all week long! Mary was a great cook and even better homemaker. She’s remembered for her sack lunches, three layer cakes and homemade pies with huge meringues. Her daughters have fond memories of Mary's homemade birthday cakes with roses made of Crisco and sugar! Mary loved to play bridge and slots. She was a frequenter of Las Vegas, Shreveport, Winstar and Natchez where she had many laughable adventures. She was lucky in that she would play a quarter at a time and often hit the jackpot. One of her favorite things about the casino was the buffets! Mary had a love for the sea. She was often on a cruise headed to somewhere beautiful, taking her last cruise at the age of 90.  Mary loved her friends, Evelyn Stein being her best friend, the pair were often seen together; Mary always driving, to some kind of memory making adventure. Mary’s later years were spent around her daughter Rose. The two of them spent time traveling and making the most of the time they had. She will be very missed and remembered by all those she knew and loved.

Mary is preceded in death by her parents; loving husband Robert Duff, Brothers: Vance Smith, R.T. Smith, Harold Smith, Wayne Smith and Nell Stevenson, and Sister Barbara Fincher.

She is survived by her daughters: Rose Duff and Carol Duff-Foust and husband Bill; granddaughter Lynne and husband John Bellamy; great- grandchildren: Hunter, Adriana and Courtney Bellamy.

A Time of Remembrance is planned for a later date.

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