MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Murfreesboro is mourning the loss of a community leader that Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee lauds as a real trailblazer.
Retired MTSU Professor Mary Scales passed away Sunday. WGNS radio reports that Scales had been battling cancer for many years.
Dr. McPhee says he and his wife, Elizabeth, have long counted Mary Scales a personal friend.
“Certainly we all know that she was one of the first African-American instructors in the academic area of our university, but has been just a delightful person. It certainly was a pleasure and I have been very lucky and very blessed to have known her professionally but also personally.”
Scales’ husband, Robert, was also a trailblazer. In 1964, he was elected Murfreesboro’s first African-American City Council member and later served on the city’s school board. Mrs. Scales followed her husband into public office.
Funeral arrangements for Mary Scales include visitation Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. at the New Vision Baptist Church on North Thompson Lane in Murfreesboro.