Alice Rebekah Wiley

WILEY, Alice Rebekah Alice Rebekah Wiley, 26, died on December 27, 2013, in Kennesaw, Georgia. She was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and was in the process of applying to law school. Her career goals grew out of her deep desire to make a difference in the lives of those in need, and her strong belief in social justice. Academically gifted, Alice graduated from a home education program in 2005. Her senior year she was an intern at the Georgia Senate. During high school, she sang with the Columbus Civic Chorale, volunteered at a children's summer camp, and served as a church pianist. She rounded out her senior year with an outstanding piano recital that included a stunning original composition for piano, flute and violin. Alice received an academic scholarship to Mercer University in 2005, and graduated cum laude in 2009 with a BA in Theatre. Alice was a Watson Brown Scholar, and was also awarded the W. G. Lee Theatre Award and Scholarship; she was named the Outstanding Junior in Theatre in 2008, and was a member of the Mercer Players. She acted in seven productions, composed the soundtrack for one of them, and was playwright for two plays. Her senior year the Mercer Players performed her full length play titled, Graduation Story. Alice was also a gifted artist and writer; she loved drawing and sketching, and wrote fiction and poetry. She leaves behind a manuscript with her own illustrations. In spite of the gifts and talents she possessed, her life was complicated by the grief that she internalized following the death of her father, the Rev. Phillip Wiley, in 2001. Only fourteen at that time, she assumed responsibilities that gave her a maturity beyond her years. This also began her twelve year battle with depression. In 2012, she began volunteering as a clinical research interviewer with the Grady Trauma Project at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. She found deep personal satisfaction in the research in PTSD, due to its effect on her family after the death of her father. Her work with the Grady Project influenced her decision to pursue counseling and social work as a career. Surviving relatives include her mother, Susan Wiley; sisters Helen Wiley, Kendra Wiley, and Anna Wiley; sister Mary Kathryn Wiley and brother-in-law Sean Bewick; brother Thomas Wiley, sister-in-law Carrie, and nephews Eamon and Malcolm; grandfather Fred Wiley; and grandmother Martha Taylor. Numerous relatives, friends and colleagues are also deeply mourning her loss. Alice was buried in Hamilton, Georgia, on New Year's Day. A memorial service was held January 4, 2014, at the Springer Opera House in Columbus, Georgia. A scholarship in her memory has been established at The Springer Theatre Academy, Columbus, Georgia.