Born on June 1, 1931, to Robert Carroll Truett and Jimmie Lee Truett, Mary Jane Truett Humphries moved to Opelika in 1945 at age 14 when her father opened DistaCast, a manufacturer and retailer of fishing lures and equipment. She graduated from Opelika High School and went on to attend Huntingdon College. She made many lifelong friends in Opelika and used to recall that when shopping downtown she seldom met anyone on the sidewalks that she did not know.
One day when she was walking past Humphries Hardware on Eighth Street, Malcolm Humphries’ father spied her and, turning to Malcolm, said “That Truett girl is cute, you should be dating her!” Malcolm, who had recently returned from service in the Navy in the Pacific, must have agreed and they started dating. They were married a couple years later on March 3, 1951, at First Baptist Church in Opelika.
The couple’s first child, Clay, was born on March 8, 1953, and the family moved into their new home at 1205 Rocky Brook Road. Their second son, Bob, was born on Nov. 6, 1955. Mary Jane and Malcolm lived at that address until their health and too many stairs forced them to move to an assisted living facility in 2016.
They worked together at Humphries Hardware & Appliance for many years, later joined by Bob, turning generations of customers into good friends.
Mary Jane was an active member of First United Methodist Church and enjoyed singing in the choir for several decades. She participated in various civic organizations and clubs and followed the boys’ various activities and sports.
After 66 years of devoted marriage, Malcolm died on Jan. 24, 2017.
Mary Jane passed away peacefully with her sons by her side at East Alabama Medical Center on Sept. 2, 2020. Graveside services will be held on Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. at Garden Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that gifts of remembrance be made to the choir fund of First United Methodist Church, Opelika.
The family appreciates that under the current circumstances’ friends may not be comfortable gathering graveside and looks forward to spending time together at a later date.