Mary Louise Skene

Mary Louise Skene, a 34-year member of the Georgia Bar and a former municipal judge who grew up in Macon and graduated from the Mercer University Law School, died Tuesday, March 3, 2015. She was 62. Mary retired from law practice two years ago after a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia, a disease that strikes middle-aged adults and gradually shrinks the frontal lobe. She had practiced law for a number of years in Newnan and Peachtree City, where she was active in the Civitan Club and served a year as president. She had previously been an assistant district attorney in the Piedmont Circuit serving Jefferson and Banks counties. Born in Jackson, Mississippi on September 18, 1952, Mary was the second child of former State Senator, George N. Skene, a 50-year member of the Macon Bar, and Louise Pate Skene, a Macon native whose ancestry, dating back to the Revolutionary War, inspired Mary's long membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was the granddaughter of Jesse and Louise Pate and Max and Pat Skene and was named in honor of her aunt, Mary Pate Hatfield, as well as her mother and grandmother. Mary graduated from Stratford Academy in 1970, and Huntingdon College in 1974, then joined her older brother, Neil, as the first brother-and-sister enrolled together at Mercer Law School. After law school she moved to Metter, where she practiced law with her then-husband William J. Neville Jr., raised their two children, Mary Elizabeth and William J. Neville III, served as juvenile judge in the middle circuit of Georgia, and also as municipal judge. She was a private pilot and horsewoman. Mary is survived by her children, Liz Neville Foskey and husband, Drew, of Milton and William J. "Trey" Neville III and wife, Elise, of Statesboro, Georgia; grandchildren, Emmerson and Haynes Pape; father, George Skene of Macon; brothers, Neil and wife, Madelyn, and Pate and wife, Beth; and sister Lynn. She was predeceased by her mother, Louise Pate Skene. Services will be held at 3:00PM on Saturday, March 7, 2015 in the chapel of Hart's Mortuary at the Cupola, 6324 Peake Road. Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery. Family will greet friends one hour prior. Register online at www.hartsmort.com. Hart's Mortuary at the Cupola has charge of arrangements.