Pickins T. Morgan

Mary Pickens Talley Morgan, 75, of Tallahassee, Florida, died from complications of Frontotemporal Dementia, FTD, or Pick’s Disease, on April 22, 2012 at Tallahassee Memory Care.

She was born June 24, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida, the daughter of the late Andrew “Pick” Pickens and Elizabeth Perry Talley. She was the youngest of three siblings. She attended Sealy School and Leon High School and was elected Homecoming Queen as a senior graduating in 1954. She enjoyed a full childhood as her father was the manager of all three of Tallahassee’s movie theaters, the Ritz, The State and The Florida! She attended Florida State University, graduating in May 1956 with a certificate of achievement for completion of the Two Year Executive Secretaryship Course. She moved briefly to New Orleans where she worked for IBM. On June 24, 1958, her 22nd birthday, she married Paul H. Morgan Jr. of Tallahassee at the Holy Comforter Episcopal Church. They moved to Santa Monica, California and then Cape Canaveral, Florida before returning to Tallahassee in 1960 for Paul to join the family business, Morgan Electric Co. Inc. Primarily, Pickens was a homemaker. In 1963, she began serving as secretary to Rep. Welborn Daniels of Lake County. She was a bookkeeper for many organizations and was involved with the Junior League of Tallahassee. She was active in St. John’s Episcopal Church and became the first woman to serve as both Junior Warden, and in 1987, Senior Warden. There is not another person whom is more fitting of Alan Jackson’s song, Blue Blooded Woman. Pickens’ ancestry lineage is remarkable. Paternally, her 2nd great-grandfather was Francis Wilkerson Pickens, Governor of South Carolina at the beginning of the Civil War and ambassador to Russia during the reign of Czar Alexander II. Her 3rd great-grandfather was Gov. Andrew Pickens Jr., her 4th Great Grandfather was Revolutionary War General Andrew Pickens Sr., and her 5th great-grandfather was Thomas Barclay, 1st US consul to France. Maternally, her 7th great-grandparents were Col. William Randolph and Mary Islam, founders of William and Mary College, whom were called the “Adam and Eve of Virginia”. Her 1st cousins, generations removed, include Dolly Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Randolph, Peyton Randolph, Patrick Henry, John Marshall and Sir Francis Bacon. Her 4th cousins, generations removed, include Pocahontas and Robert E. Lee.

She is survived by her son, Trey Morgan of Tallahassee, Florida; daughter and son-in-law, Susan Pickens Morgan and Rev. Bill Breedlove of Overland Park, Kansas; daughter, E. Talley Morgan of Quincy; grandchildren, Benjamin Morgan of Tallahassee, Mary and Talley Breedlove of Overland Park, Kansas; sister, Elizabeth Flynn of Florence, South Carolina and 1st cousin, Mary Ewing Hart of Russellville, Kentucky, and her many Flamingo Fling friends.

Pickens was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Paul H. Morgan Jr. and a sister, Lilah Katherine Talley.

The family will receive friends at Culley’s Meadow Wood Funeral Home 1737 Riggins Road on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 from 6:00to 8:00pm. A graveside service will be held at 10:00am on April 25, 2012 at Roselawn Cemetery.

Arrangements are under the direction of Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home in Tallahassee, Florida.