Mary Lou Autry was born September 17, 1933, at Burnt Mill Ferry in the old boarding house of Fay & Hunter's Mill. She lived by the Obion River until she was about five years old, then her small family pulled up stakes and moved to a short lane called Knapp in the Peony Ridge neighborhood. At that Time, Knapp was still a country route paved only with gravel and no street lights in sight. It was a world filled with pastures, flowers, and lightning bugs. Her parents and uncles built a new home with the assistance of one professional carpenter helping with the details. Her mother, who wore jeans before they were fashionable with women, did the electrical work, while her father and uncles worked with hammers and saws. Both her father, "Tom" Autry, and her mother, "Dot", were already employed at the cotton mill when they married, so their move was one step closer to work. The new community on the outskirts of town was quickly filling up with relatives of her father, but soon "Dot's" mother, stepfather and niece Ruth also began building a house on part of the land the family had acquired. It was more like a small farm or commune, than what you see now in a typical city neighborhood. A few years later the family would be complete with the birth of Cheryl the couple's second and youngest daughter.

As a teenager, Mary worked part-time at the old library on Masonic Street and for a while at the Ritz movie theater downtown. Her father would loan her his old black sedan when she went to school so she could pick-up groceries in the afternoon, but her friend Joyce and cousin Monet would sometimes join her in skipping class and end up taking the smoking sedan to Betties Snack Bar on Court Street. While stopping by one day she spied a young insurance salesman, just back from the Korean War. He was driving a new car and had a new suit, bought with the money he did not have the opportunity to spend while he was overseas. She was young and painfully shy, but Dad said she caught his attention by the way she would linger at the jukebox with her hand on one hip. Dad had never made a commitment to any one woman. In Japan the girls called him "Butterfly Boy" because he flitted from girl to girl, but somehow this green-eyed teenager was different. Dad said that he decided to marry her the first time he spotted her.

Mom soon made a point of driving slowly by the café on a regular basis to see if she could spot dad, then finally they found each other sitting alone at opposite ends of the snack bar. The girl working that day could see what was going on and kept moving mom's cup of coffee down the counter next to dad's. Mom would dutifully push it back until she finally gave up her mock resistance and finally sat in the seat next to his. A month later they were married. At first, the young couple lived in a small cottage on a narrow thoroughfare just off Gordon Street which they dubbed "Willoughby Alley''. After raising four children and getting them all in school, she went back to work. First she worked at Kent's Dollar Store, then became supervisor of three stores for the P&H Company. After P&H closed, she owned and operated her own store, Lou's TopShop. After her business ended, she went to work for Salenfriend's Shoe Store and finally retired while working at K-Mart.

Both mom and dad would forsake all worldly goods to make life better for their children. While raising a family they never ate out, or rarely bought new clothes for themselves, but mom always made sure her kids had the best clothes she could find, a fact that was often commented on by our teachers. She not only worked in business, but cooked memorable meals on a shoestring budget, got us ready for school every day, and managed the house, but also found time to be Den Mother and Chauffer to her squad of kids.

After going to work as a young mother, she quickly lost her shyness and from that point on she would never meet a stranger. Always quick with a smile, our mother was one of the kindest people I have ever known, and generous to a fault. In later years you would always find her shopping for bargains and in the afternoon she would settle into her recliner with a Dr. Pepper in one hand and surrounded by a pile of books. Her and our father remained married a total of 64 years. Dad playfully called her "Lou Eyes", but we just called her Momma.

Mom has inspired no great monuments, nor has she slayed mystical dragons, but she was a Christian warrior who led by example every day of here life. Through her selfless devotion she has transcended the traditional status of motherhood onto a level that few women will ever achieve. She leaves behind a large and grieving family unworthy of filling the void she has left in this troubled world. We are now a rudderless ship adrift in her wake. May God keep our moral compass close to his heart as we have to ours.

The family will receive visitors on Saturday, July 22, 2023 from 6-8 p.m. and on Sunday, July 23, 2023 from 12-1 p.m.at Dyersburg Funeral Home.Graveside services will be held at 1:30 p.m. at Dyer County Memorial Gardens conducted by Bro. Jeremy Ballinger.

Survivors include her four children, Earl L. Willoughby Jr. of Dyersburg, TN, Vicki Lou Willoughby Fowlkes (Al) of Huntsville, AL, Thomas Daniel Willoughby (Deborah) of Knoxville, TN and Charles Vincent Willoughby of Dyersburg, TN; one sister, Cheryl Autry Johnson of Dyersburg, TN; six grandchildren, Dustin Harris White, Lesley Marie White Webb (Dave), Sarah Katherine Fowlkes Lewis (David), Colt Anthony Vincent Willoughby (Courtney), Callie Marie Willoughby and Marie Lardino; and five great grandchildren, Elizabeth White, Silas Micheal Burks, Ryce Katherine Lewis, Palmer Kate Lewis, and Chase Willoughby.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Earl L. Willoughby Sr.

Honoring Mary Lou as pallbearers will be Bobby Ray, Colt A. V. Willoughby, Tim Bivens, Terry Morgan, Wyatt Wimberley and Dylan McNutt. Honorary pallbearers will be Jackie W. Keeling, Robert Chapman, Jack Hart and Steve Stewart.

Dyersburg Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Mary Lou Willoughby.