Mary Lou (Heise) Taylor of Silver Spring, MD died on April 29, 2017. Survived by family, friends and thousands of students, she will be remembered as a woman of strength and purpose who knew the source of her strength and the object of her purpose.

Mary Lou was born 1940 in Ferndale, Michigan to the late Claude and Evelyn Heise. The youngest of seven siblings, she attended Mercy High School and graduated from the University of Detroit. A life-long advocate of the arts, she taught ballet to fund herself through college.

Mary Lou’s vocation was teaching and caring for others, and she did it with passion and grace. She spent more than five decades educating and inspiring students in classrooms and homes around the world, to include 32 years as a first-grade teacher at Thomas S. Stone Elementary School in Prince George’s County. She also volunteered countless hours as a Girl Scout leader, Civil War living historian, driver for Meals on Wheels and Extraordinary Minister at St. Camillus Catholic Church.

At home, Mary Lou was a devoted daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She leaves five brothers, three children, seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild and many many others to celebrate her legacy of creativity, generosity and hope.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, May 4, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m., at Collins Funeral Home, 500 University Blvd., Silver Spring MD. The funeral service will be held on Friday, May 5, 10 a.m., at St. Camillus, 1600 St. Camillus Dr., Silver Spring, MD.