Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Jan. 25, 1955 – April 8, 2023

Mary Theresa “Terry” Griffey, 68, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, died April 8 at Baton Rouge General Hospital of an illness.

She was born Jan. 25, 1955, the first child of the late James E. Griffey and the late Irene Kelly.

Terry lived in Natchez all of her life, graduating from South Natchez-Adams High School in 1973, where she was a cheerleader and popular student.

Terry loved her classmates at South Natchez and particularly loved the reunions they shared.

She married the late Jack Stutzman and the two had a daughter, Amie Elizabeth, in 1973, who survives. She and Stutzman eventually divorced and Terry never remarried.

Terry began a career at The Natchez Democrat in advertising sales in the early 1980s, working with her step-father, Bill Wall, who was advertising manager at the time.

Though Amie was barely a teenager, she and Terry teamed up from 1986 to 1999 to publish the monthly lifestyles magazine, The Natchez Digest, which was enjoyed and appreciated by many.

Terry had a close and special relationship with her mother. The two were more like best friends than mother and daughter. Disputes were many, but in the end they shared a sense of humor and enjoyed each other’s company unlike that with anyone else. Terry lived for a number of years after becoming disabled with her mother in Natchez.

When Amie moved to Baton Rouge to become a student at LSU, Terry moved to Baton Rouge, too. It was a place she loved almost as much as she loved Natchez.

In Baton Rouge, she became active in a number of groups, including the Red Hat Society and the Catholic Church and volunteered with the Democratic Party of Baton Rouge.

Terry loved cats and all animals and advocated for them over her lifetime. She rescued and cared for many, sometimes to her detriment because of her lifelong battle with asthma.

She also enjoyed music of all kinds, particularly artists from the 1970s, and later in life she developed a unique appreciation for the music of Michael Jackson, so much so she had his name tattooed on her body.

Terry was by far the most creative and artistic in her family and each of her siblings has art she created for them, which they treasure.

Survivors include her daughter, Amie Elizabeth Stutzman (Robert) McNaylor; her grandson, Finnan Bruce McNaylor; two sisters, Jan Griffey of Natchez and Anna Wall of Baton Rouge; two brothers, Bubba (Anita) Griffey of St. Francisville and Kelly (Tina) Wall of Baton Rouge; nephews John Wesley Griffey of Baton Rouge, Jeffrey Clark of Baton Rouge and Joseph Wall of Baton Rouge; and nieces Anna Katherine Clark, Abby Wall and Maggie Wall, all of Baton Rouge, and Kathaleen Griffey of St. Francisville.

No public services are planned.

Donations in her memory should be made to the animal rescue group of your choice.