“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
This piece of Scripture was a favorite of Mary F. Duckett, a champion of Greenville’s Southernside community and one of the driving forces behind the creation of Unity Park. Duckett died Sunday, Nov. 16. She was 85.
As news of her passing spread, those lines from Psalm 118 seemed a fitting tribute for a woman who embodied grace, strength and compassion to those who knew her and shared in her decades-long work to improve her community and the lives of others.
A life well-lived
Lifelong friend and Greenville City Councilwoman Lillian Brock Flemming said it was emblematic of Duckett’s life and character that she cited her favorite Bible verse during her last public remarks. Duckett spoke briefly during the Nov. 11 opening of the Thomas and Vivian A. Wong Honor Tower in Greenville’s Unity Park, built on a once-neglected portion of the Southernside neighborhood that in the past included segregated parks.
Fleming and Duckett carried on the work of Flemming’s mother, Lila Mae Brock, who was an early champion of the Southernside community and a mentor to both women.
It was in part to carry on Brock’s legacy as a community champion that Flemming and Duckett became powerful voices advocating for the creation of Unity Park as a step toward healing the legacy of decades of neglect neighborhoods like Southernside endured.
“Mary was a one-of-a-kind person,” Flemming said. “We need more Mary Ducketts. I thank God for lending her to us.”
State Rep. Chandra Dillard expressed similar sentiments of gratitude. Dillard, whose District 23 includes the Southernside neighborhood, said Duckett was a tireless champion of the voiceless who was always honest and encouraging. She was also fearless.
“She would tell you when you were headed down the wrong path,” Dillard said. “Then she would say, ‘Now, how are we going to fix it?’”
In a sense, fixing things was what Duckett’s life and work were all about, according to Dillard and Flemming.
As president of Southernside Neighborhoods in Action, Duckett spent a lifetime working to create opportunity for the people of the community in which she was raised. She poured herself into young people like Dillard and instilled in them a commitment to carry on the work.
“Mary’s fingerprints are all over Greenville,” Dillard said. “I want to make her proud and continue to honor her legacy and remember all of her good work.”
Faith in action
Central to Duckett’s good work was her faith and the wisdom it produced in her, according to the Rev. Stacey Mills, a fellow advocate for Southernside. Like so many others, Mills was on hand at Unity Park Nov. 11 when Duckett gave her valedictory words about what Honor Tower and surrounding park represented.
“She gave us all just a treat on Tuesday,” he said. “It was masterful.”
Mills said Duckett’s grace, strength and poise through a lifetime of service seemed to culminate in the Unity Park celebration.
“Just thinking about the beauty of it all … and her departure, the dots connect,” he said. “While I want to cry, it’s not sorrowful.”
Remembering her last appearance at the park was also poignant for Greenville Mayor Knox White.
“She always wanted her beloved Southernside to have a voice and recognition in our city,” said White, who has served as mayor for 30 years. “Mary felt to her core that all people have worth and all voices count. That message will stand as her legacy.”
But remembering the faith with which she greeted such days is also part of her legacy, according to the Rev. Robert Simpson, pastor of Victory Temple Missionary Baptist Church, where Duckett was a member.
“Even in grief, I can still hear her say, ‘This is the day the Lord has made,’” Simpson said. “And she would make it personal … she would raise her left hand and say, ‘I will rejoice and be glad in it.’”
