FRANKLIN — Miriam Louise Ayers Talley, 93, of Burdette passed away on Dec. 7, 2016. She was born in Beverly, Massachusetts on July 27, 1923 to Herman Eugene Ayers and Marion Louise Chase Ayers to whom she was always deeply devoted.

She loved classical music, working in churches and helping others. At the age of sixteen she she had a quintet and played the piano on a weekly radio program. A  graduate of Boston University, she was the scholarship accompanying pianist of the Boston University Chorale and was at one time the substitute concert pianist for the Boston Symphony. Following graduate work at Columbia University she became the Director of Christian Education of the Congregational Christian Church in Stoneham, Massachusetts until she met and soon married the Reverend Dr. Joseph Addison Talley, who was a “blind date” on Valentine’s day of 1947 and subsequently her husband for sixty-six years. Together they had churches in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts; Lancaster, New Hampshire; Waterbury, Connecticut; Richmond and Portsmouth, Virginia. She taught piano much of her adult life and was the pianist and choir director at the Burdette Baptist Church for thirty years and until she was 89 years old. She was a substitute teacher in the Richmond, Portsmouth and Franklin, Virginia School Systems for over forty-five years and did so until the age of eighty-four.

She was a woman of great patience who always saw the best in others and would do all possible to be of benefit to them. As a wife, mother, teacher and pianist she brought mind, heart and faith to all aspects of her life.

She is survived by her sons, Joseph Eugene Talley and wife Vibeke of Hillsborough , North Carolina, Kenneth Arthur Talley of Burdette , Virginia and James Chase Talley and wife Charlotte of Richmond, Virginia as well as four grandchildren, Kirsten, David, Jonathan and Ben Talley.

The family will receive friends at Wright Funeral Home, 206 Fourth Avenue in Franklin on Friday, December 16th from 6 to 8 p.m. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016 at 2 pm at the Burdette Baptist Church, Burdette Church Drive, Burdette, Virginia.

The interment will immediately follow at the Rosemont Cemetery in Sedley, Virginia followed directly by a reception for all to again greet friends and extended family at the Black Creek Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.

Memorial donations may be made to the       Burdette Baptist Church, 35490 Burdette Rd., Franklin, VA 23851. www.wrightfuneralhome.org