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HIGH POINT — Mary Dean Leake Saunders peacefully departed her earthly body on Monday, May 22, 2023 after a short illness. Dean as she preferred to be called, was born on April 6, 1937 to her parents Rebecca Leake and Grandy Pemberton in Richmond County, NC. Transitioning from flesh to spirit on May 22, 2023, she was welcomed by her husband, Melvin; her parents Rebecca and Grandy; brother, Percy; stepchildren, Michelle and Ronnie; aunts, uncles, cousins, and special friends and family Marion Jean Spencer and April Patterson.

She attended Montgomery County Public Schools and graduated from Peabody High School in 1955. Immediately after graduating, she moved to High Point, NC to live with her late Aunt Minnie Arnold with whom she resided for 10 years. In 1965, she met and married the late Mr. Melvin Saunders and from this union she welcomed her daughter, Audrea Saunders Austin.