Wray and Mary Lynn Eckl

Mary Lynn McGough Eckl passed away on July 24, 2025. Just nine days later, on August 2, her husband, William Wray Eckl, joined her. Married for 63 years, Mary Lynn and Wray had known each other since childhood and shared a lifetime of devotion to family, friends, and community.

Both were natives of Florence, Alabama. Wray was born on December 2, 1936, to Louis and Patricia Eckl, and Mary Lynn was born on April 28, 1941, to Thomas and Lynn Lacey McGough.

Wray graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1959 and the University of Virginia Law School in 1962. Early in his career, he clerked for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, served as a Captain in the JAG Corps, and practiced law with two Atlanta firms before becoming one of the founding partners of Drew, Eckl, and Farnham.

Mary Lynn graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Cullman, Alabama, in 1959 and from Rosary College in Chicago in 1963. On June 21, 1963, she and Wray were married and settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where they would live for the next six decades.

In 1977, the couple moved into Atlanta's Brookwood Hills neighborhood, where they lived for more than forty years. Mary Lynn devoted herself to raising their children and volunteering with community organizations. She loved concerts, movies, and entertaining at home-especially at Christmas. Wray enjoyed reading, discussing politics, and listening to his extensive collection of classical music. Both delighted in time spent with their grandchildren and the children of their extended family.

Mary Lynn and Wray are survived by their children, Eric Eckl and Lynn Lacey McCormick; their son-in-law, Shannon McCormick; and their grandchildren, Emmett and Leo McCormick. They are also survived by Mary Lynn's brother, Matthew McGough, and by Wray's sister-in-law, Elizabeth Eckl, along with her five children and their families. They were preceded in death by their parents and by Wray's brother, Chris Eckl.

Though Atlanta became their home, Mary Lynn and Wray never forgot their roots in Alabama. They will be laid to rest at St. Michael's Catholic Church in St. Florian, Alabama. Funeral services will be held there on September 27 at 10 a.m., followed by a luncheon. A celebration of life will also take place in Atlanta at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation.