Mary Ellon Berkley

Mary Ellon Berkley (nee Puckett) died peacefully on Oct. 17, 2025, at age 96 in Sheboygan, Wis.  

Born in Old Hickory, Tenn., on Sept. 22, 1929, to Ida Caroline Gothard and Joseph Monroe Puckett, she was the third of five children in a family of talented musicians.  

In 1948, Mary Ellon began singing backup at the Ryman Auditorium of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn.  In the 1950s, she was a member of the Anita Kerr Singers, who had a No. 16 hit on Billboard’s pop chart — “Our Lady of Fatima.” The following year, they were signed to Decca Records.  The group is in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Mary Ellen Puckett graduated from Peabody College (now Vanderbilt University), where she performed in productions, including singing the role of Susanna in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.” She earned a master’s degree in music education and for much of her life directed church choirs and taught piano and vocal music while singing and playing piano nearly every day. 

She is survived by her sister Sara Hodges of Florence, S.C.; daughter Nancy Wigren, son-in-law Scott, two grandchildren, Laura Kristofferson (Landry) and Matthew Wigren (Arfa) and two great grandchildren, Eliot and Wesley Kristofferson, all of Kirkland, Wash.; by her devoted nephew Andrew Helgeson and his wife Debbie, great-nieces Kirsten Helgeson (Geoffrey Bergmann), Lindsey Mongoven (Tom) and their daughters Ruth, Margaret and Nora of Cedarburg, Wis.; Eric  Helgeson, daughter Bella and son Eli of Saukville, Wis.; Karen Perman (Dale) of West Lafayette, Ind., and Janet Helgeson (Fred Roecker) of Columbus, Ohio, along with great and great-great nieces and nephews as well as dear friends at the Berkshire residences in Grafton, Wis. and Cedarburg Senior Center.