Mary Jane Duke

Mary Jane Skipper Duke, 86, of Bainbridge, stepped into eternity Tuesday, October 21, 2025.

The funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 26, 2025, at Beulah Thomas Church with Pastor Mike Albritton officiating. Interment will follow at Beulah Thomas Baptist Church Cemetery with Cuyler Duke, Bryan Harrell, Todd Sisson, Tony Black, Brett Wilkinson, Rob Robinson, Barry Dodson, Danny Dollar, and Josh Skipper serving as active pallbearers. Deacons & Men of Beulah Thomas Church, Anthony Stubbs, Marvin Knight, Larry Funderburke, Nathan Hardin, Wendell Hall, and Stan Killough will serve as honorary pallbearers.

The family will receive friends from 4:00 until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at Bryant Funeral Home. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.bryantfuneralga.com. Memorial donations may be made to Beulah Thomas Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, C/O Nelda Moore, 3208 Tired Creek Road, Whigham, GA 39897.

Mary Jane Skipper was born March 28, 1939, in Bainbridge, GA, the daughter of Whit & Valeria Mills Skipper. She was a graduate of Bainbridge High School, Class of 1956. In 1966, Mary Jane married the love of her life, James V. "Jabo" Duke. They spent 48 years of wedded bliss. Mary Jane was an instructor at Bainbridge Driver Improvement Clinic and worked for years as the bookkeeper and assistant manager at Coca~Cola. She was a member of Beulah Thomas Church.

Family was the cornerstone for Mary Jane. Her children were well loved but she described the grandchildren as her "ambrosia". She grew up surrounded by her cousins whose children she treated like her own. She was the family cheerleader and believed those stories should be told in a positive light for edification. Now, if she needed to correct a detail or two, she could. (Side note: you could not correct or say anything negative without the full wrath descending.) Along that same theme, Mary Jane was the ultimate source of valuable information for many in our community. She had a special knack for making everyone feel special, or not.

Survivors include her children, Bret Benninghoff (Gail Raper) and Eric Duke (Angela); her grandchildren, Alexis & Kenny, Larsyn & Wesley, and Cuyler; her great-grandchildren, Emily, Jake, and Emsley; her sister, Faye Harwell; and a host of extended family. In addition to her parents, Mary Jane was preceded in death by her beloved Jabo; her daughters, Barbara Jo Benninghoff and Debbie Duke Skipper; and her brother, Charlie Whit Skipper.