Mary Jo Peck Oakley

After battling progressive supranuclear palsy for over three years, Mary Jo Peck Oakley died on July 28, 2021 at the age of 78 at her home in Wilmington, NC. She was born August 10, 1942 in Lake Wales, FL to Joseph Stanley Peck and Mary Fraser McCollum Peck. Mary Jo is a 1960 National Honor Society graduate of Winter Haven High School, and graduate of Florida State University in 1964 and 1968 with Bachelor and Master Degrees in Science specializing in home economics.

Mary Jo taught high school home economics in Satellite Beach, FL, for three years before working two years for the Florida Department of Agriculture in Tallahassee promoting Florida’s home grown food products.                                                                                                                                                                        

After her marriage on September 19, 1970 in Winter Haven, she lived in New York City where she became employed by Theodore Sills, a public relations firm. At Sills Mary Jo traveled extensively throughout the United States promoting various state food products such as strawberries, artichokes, and yams by appearing on both radio and television talk shows and news segments. In addition, she had new recipes developed and taste tested for her products with the more successful ones appearing in many newspapers and magazines throughout the country.

For the past 43 years, Mary Jo has lived in Wilmington where she has been a director of the Wilmington Lower Cape Fear Historical Society; Joe Peck, Incorporated (a manufacturer of citrus based products); the PRS Group, Inc. (a geopolitical and economic forecasting firm); and president of the Saint James Episcopal Day School Board of Directors. She also taught art appreciation to elementary school children in New Hanover County, NC for eight years.               

Mary Jo is survived by her husband of 50 years William (Bill) Edwin Oakley; daughter Mary Alysia Oakley and her wife Sharon (Sheri) Lorraine Mahoney; son William Edwin Oakley, Jr. and his wife Dr. Jennifer (Jenn) Lauren Christenson Oakley; and two grandchildren, Joseph William Oakley and Bryn Mary Oakley.

The Oakley family expresses a special thank you to Nancy Mallard for all she has done for Mary Jo. We also thank Griswold Home Care of Wilmington’s Shalonda Vaughan, Diane McGhee, and Nicole Corbett in making Mary Jo’s last days more comfortable.

Funeral Services will be held at Lebanon Chapel on Wednesday August 4 at 10AM. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the St. James rector’s fund or other religious or charitable foundations of your choice.