MAY 1 — Mary Ward Redd was born in Prince Edward County on May 6, 1916 and departed this life Tuesday, April 22, 2014. She was the daughter of the late Charles Bledsoe and Emily Spain Ward. She was the widow of Alfred Henry Redd Sr., who departed this life December 11, 1980.

As a child, she accepted Jesus Christ and united with First Baptist Church, Farmville. Later, she joined Mercy Seat Baptist Church, Hampden-Sydney.

A lifelong lover of reading, Mrs. Redd attended public school in Prince Edward County. She graduated from the Agricultural and Technical College, Greensboro, North Carolina. She also received her Master’s degree in Library Science from Virginia State College, Ettrick. She was a lifetime member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., where she was a charter member of the Kappa Rho Omega Chapter of Farmville. She was a teacher-librarian for forty-three years. Her teaching career included the schools in Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland and Prince Edward counties.

Her survivors include four children, Emily Alfreda Powell (Robert), Diane Elizabeth Redd, Alfred Henry Redd Jr. (Hattie) and Judith Ann Hendricks; eight loving grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and several nephews and nieces.

Funeral services were held in Portsmouth and Hampden-Sydney with interment in Mercy Seat Baptist Church Cemetery.

Corprew Funeral Home, Portsmouth, and Bland-Reid Funeral Home, Farmville, served the family.