Louise Wooten Talley

March 9, 1935-September 19, 2017

Raleigh

Louise Trotter Wooten Talley, 82, of Raleigh, North Carolina died September 19, 2017. She was born in Richmond, Virginia on March 9, 1935 to Sterling Dillon and Louise Trotter Wooten. She grew up in Goldsboro, NC. She attended Goldsboro High School and graduated from St. Mary's School in Raleigh. She received an AB in English Literature from Duke University in Durham. She did her graduate work at the Harvard / Radcliffe School of Business Administration in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After graduation, she worked as a Medical Manuscript Editor at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass. and at her father's own Wooten Oil and Fuel Company in Goldsboro.

In Raleigh, while working as a Financial Aid Counselor in Student Employment at NC State College, she met her future husband, Dr. Banks C. Talley Jr. They were married in Goldsboro and then settled in Raleigh. For many years, she ran a successful travel business called ArtTours of Raleigh, which specialized in Mother/Daughter trips to New York and London.

Louise was an accomplished French chef having studied with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle who co-authored "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" with Julia Child. In her youth, she spent many summers at Camp Merrie-Woode in Sapphire Valley, NC. She loved tennis, swimming in the ocean and taking long walks at her beloved Atlantic Beach. She was an ardent world traveler, reader and gardener. She especially loved England, Ireland, Scotland, Paris, Spain, Greece, Portugal and sailing on the Sea Cloud. Two travel highlights were seeing the Great Pyramids of Egypt and the Taj Mahal in India

with her lifelong companion Banks. Her favorite US cities were always New York and San Francisco. The MET and MOMA were two of her regular stops in NYC. Louise was a patron of the arts and historic preservation and loyally supported the NC Museum of Art, the Friends of the Gallery at NC State University (which became Arts NC State), the NC Symphony, Thompson Theater, the Joel Lane House (especially the Garden Committee), Mordecai House, the NC Museum of History and the NCSU Friends of the Library. She served as a member of the Junior League of Raleigh, as a Board member of the North Carolina Art Society and as the Chairman of the Wake County Committee of the Colonial Dames of America. On the state level, she served as

Vice President from the East and Lady of Dumbarton. She was also a longtime member of St. Michaels Church, the Olla Podrida Book Club, the NC Botanical Garden and the Carolina Country Club. She served several terms on the Botanical Garden board and led seven English Garden Tours to raise money for the garden's special programs.

Louise is survived by her husband of 54 years, Dr. Banks C. Talley Jr. of Raleigh; her daughter Sterling Talley Wheless (Jim) of Raleigh; her son Banks C. Talley III (Noelle) of Raleigh; her daughter Mary Louise Talley Wright of Raleigh; and by her five grandchildren; James Harris Wheless III, Banks Wooten Wheless, Cooper Talley Wheless, Rebecca Selby Talley and Rainey Olivia Wright, who affectionately called her "Jellybean Grandmommy" and "Gigi." She is also survived by her brother S. Dillon Wooten Jr. (Sue) of Goldsboro; and her three nieces: Carol Wooten Exum (Jay), Susan

Wooten Sumner (Rick) and Mildred Louise Wooten.

Her parents and her stepmother, Bertha Shepherd Wooten predeceased her.

A memorial service will be held at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 1520 Canterbury Rd., Raleigh, NC on Monday, September 25, 2017 at 2:00 pm. The interment will be held in the church Memorial Garden. A reception will be held in the church Parish Hall for all attendees, following the services.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to: The National Society

of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of North Carolina, Wake Committee, 2107 Fairview Road, Raleigh, NC 27608.

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Saint Mary's St., Raleigh.

Condolences may be made at brownwynne.com.