Mary Nelle Taylor Paulk, of Alpharetta, died February 24, 2014. She is survived by her husband George Cudney Paulk III, daughters Crystal Joy Paulk-Buchanan and Melody Michelle Dunn, grandson Loren Huxley Dunn and siblings Perry Taylor, Margaret Zimmerman, Glenna Harris and Donna Heffring
Originally of Brookfield, Ga., Mary Nelle was preceded in death by her parents, Glenn and Dorothy Taylor. A graduate of Tift County High School, she continued her formal education at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education through the University of Georgia and North Georgia College.
Mary Nelle always believed that third grade was the year her students stopped learning to read and began reading to learn. Throughout the 29 years she taught at Alpharetta Elementary School she read aloud two books by E.B. White: The Trumpet of the Swan and Charlotte’s Web, stories of triumph over adversity and finding an inner purpose. Lessons she hoped her pupils would remember even if they could not recall that the capitol of Idaho was Boise. However no student forgot that 12 times 12 equals 144 because when you completed your multiplication tables through the twelve’s, Mrs. Paulk would allow you to buy a cola from the machine in the teacher’s lounge.
For more than two decades Mary Nelle and husband George captured the milestones of thousands through their photography business. If you grew up in the Alpharetta-Roswell area then it was very likely you were photographed by the Paulks at least once, as a softball player at Wills Park, your first Homecoming dance, as a majorette in marching band or a football player at Milton High School, or at your wedding ceremony amid the high rises of downtown Atlanta.
Upon retirement Mary Nelle cultivated a passion for gardening through the Deer Creek Shores Garden Club. The only thing she loved more than coaxing reluctant blossoms to flower was her family. One of her great joys in recent years was the time spent with her grandson. She had a strong and binding relationship with her husband, children, siblings and extended family which included many former colleagues, students and friends. Mary Nelle was also a longtime member of the Alpharetta First United Methodist Church.
In lieu of flowers the family asks a donation be made to Atlanta Humane Society – Mansell Campus.
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