February 17, 1945 - November 1, 2025
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Louisburg, NC -- Mary Helen Bradley O'Neal, 80, of Louisburg, went home to be with the Lord Saturday morning, November 1, 2025, after a brave battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Mary Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Paul Archibal and Helen Edwards Bradley.
Mary Helen is survived by her husband of 50 years, William H. O'Neal; daughters, Jessi O'Neal Baker and husband, Alex; Lee-Ann O'Neal; Peggy O'Neal Pearse and husband, Jon; sister, Paula B. Stewart; grandchildren, Nyle Baker, and Skyler, Zoe and Macy Pearse.
Mary Helen graduated from Meredith College and received a Master of Library Science degree from East Carolina University. She taught in the public school system for 35 years in Wake and Franklin Counties. She loved teaching and, especially, being an elementary school librarian.
She had a life-long love of horses, owning horses non-stop from her teens until the end. She enjoyed trail riding, horse shows, caring for horses, and passing on her love of horses to others.
After retirement, she found great joy in traveling throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe with family and friends. She also enjoyed volunteering at the NC Aquarium and with the NC Sea Turtle Project. She was regularly seen accompanied by two of her best dog friends, Soozie and Daisy, and working in her yard in Pine Knoll Shores, NC.
She found great comfort and counsel in the precious hours spent working to solve the world's problems on the beach with good friends. She was a truly devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend who will be greatly missed by so many.
A memorial service will be 1 p.m. Saturday, November 8th in the chapel of Strickland Funeral Home. The family will receive friends immediately following the service. A private burial will be Oakwood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her name to the Friends of the Franklin County Library, 906 N. Main St., Louisburg, NC 27549 or the Alzheimer's Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601, or ALZ.org.
Arrangements are by Strickland Funeral Home & Crematory, Louisburg, www.stricklandfuneralhome.net.
Paid obituary