Knightdale, NC - In Loving Memory of a Remarkable Woman

With a heart rooted in faith and a spirit that radiated warmth, Mary Elizabeth Abrams Akinkuotu was a beacon of strength, wisdom, and love. Born in Newberry, SC, on Tuesday, January 18, 1944, she was the eighth of thirteen children blessed to the late Frank David Abrams Sr. and Ella Bell Long Abrams. As a proud South Carolinian, she was passionate about family and staying connected to the generations. Mary transitioned to her heavenly home on Saturday, April 26, 2025, due to late-stage Alzheimer's disease. She passed away peacefully at home in Knightdale, NC, surrounded by family.

Curious by nature and always seeking understanding, she embraced life with an insatiable love of reading, writing, and traveling. She attended Allen University in Columbia, SC, graduated with honors, and received a bachelor's degree in business administration. While attending, she also pledged Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Beyond her intellectual and extracurricular pursuits, Mary found her true calling as a leader and lifelong civil rights activist. Unyielding in her fight for justice and devoted to uplifting those around her, she courageously stood on the front lines of the civil rights movement in the early '60s, marching, demonstrating, and even enduring time in jail for her unwavering convictions.

Mary's leadership and passion for fairness and equity were displayed in her distinguished 33-year career with the U.S. Department of Labor, where she rose from compliance officer to regional director—one of only two in North Carolina. Mary played a significant role in training and empowering government officials across the United States. Additionally, toward the end of Nelson Mandela's historic presidency, she was commissioned by her agency to travel abroad to South Africa as a special advisor. While there, she provided insight and training to help further develop equal opportunity policy within that nation. She retired in 2005.

Always on the go, even in retirement, Mary continued passionately serving—whether helping family, volunteering in her local community and church, or ministering encouragement to someone she met at the Wellness Center, where she loved to exercise. She also found time to earn a master's degree in biblical counseling and write the book Woman in Travail. Her second book, My Eyes Did See (unfinished), chronicles her trip to Israel and her deep connection to God, the land, and the people through that visit. In 2007, under the leadership of Bishop Christopher Paul Melton, Mary was ordained as a pastor, a testament to her enduring wisdom, character, love for people, and devotion to God.

Mary is predeceased by her brothers Augustus Abrams, Frank David Abrams Jr., and Leroy Abrams, and her sisters Dorothy Howard, Margaret Garrison, Aurelia Haile, and Ida Bell "Toby" Budden.

Above all, she was a loving mother—her greatest joy was found in her two sons, Dundee Arnold Wilson (Chaunda) and Deji Akinkuotu (Doretha); eight grandchildren, Durand Boddie, Xavier "Zay" Wilson, Yakira "Yaya" Wilson, Zaria Wilson, Jaseer Ford, Najeeah Ford, Isaiah Jones, and Okoye Timmons; and three great-grandchildren, Harmony Jackson, Lianu Reyes, and Dae Boddie, all of Raleigh, NC.

She leaves behind siblings: Annie Pearl Adams of Moreno Valley, CA, James Arnold Abrams, Barbara Ann Nance, Russell Stanley Abrams, and Robert Reco Abrams, Sr., all of Newberry, SC; devoted brother-in-law Eddie Haile of Philadelphia, PA; devoted sister-in-law Vernette Hailstock Abrams of Newberry, SC; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and lifelong friends.

Her light was undeniable, her love unconditional, and her presence unforgettable.

While she has left this earthly world, her legacy of love, strength, faith, and compassion will live on in the hearts of all who had the honor of knowing her.