Ms. Lillye McNeill Dumas

Mrs. Lillye McNeill Dumas of Tampa, FL, passed away on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.  Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at Sandy Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 73 Deangelo Road, Maxton, NC 28364, with Reverend Ellerbee, Officiating.  Interment will follow in Wayman Chapel AME Zion Church Cemetery, Hamlet, NC 28345.

Mrs. Dumas spent the last nine years in Tampa, FL. However, she was a native of Maxton, NC, attended Roberson County Schools and was a member of Sandy Grove Missionary Baptist Church. Mrs. Dumas was a graduate of North Carolina A&T University.  She received her Master's Degree in Administration and Supervision from the University of Bridgeport, CT, with advanced studies at Yale University, Rutgers University and a certified librarian from Columbia University in New York City, with studies from Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA. She was a 70-plus-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Her last chapter affiliation was Rho Alpha Omega Chapter in Rockingham, NC.

Mrs. Dumas retired after 43 years of teaching English and reading in North Carolina, Connecticut, Richmond and Roberson County School Systems before moving to Tampa.  Mrs. Dumas was known in her hometown of Maxton for her outstanding role in city government.  Her last notable achievement was getting CSX to place crossing arms at the railroad crossing in her neighborhood.

Mrs. Dumas was the last of her ten siblings.  Her death ends her generation of the McNeill/Fairley Family of Maxton, NC. Lillye was preceded in death by her father Wille Bee McNeill Sr., mother Maggie Fairley McNeill, brothers James Cleveland (Christine) McNeill, Wille Bee (Gladys) McNeill Jr., John Walter McNeill, sisters; Mary Letha (James) Bridges, Sarah Jane (John) McEachin, Palmer Lee (Charles) Jemison, Estella Taylor, Annie Bell (Erwin) Carelock, and Maggie Juanita (Willie) Howard, and Son-in-Love Artice Ray Holland. Mrs. Dumas was 92 years old and was born on May 27, 1933.

She leaves to cherish her memory:  her daughter, Beverly Dumas Holland of Tampa, FL; two grandchildren, Artice L. Holland of Tampa and Ranita D. Holland of Wimauma, FL; great-grandchildren, Aziyah M. Austin, Aziel S. Austin, Amahn R. Austin and Alijah O. Austin; goddaughter, Lillye D. McLean; godson, Frankie L. Carelock and a host of nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Ray Williams Funeral Home, 301 N. Howard Avenue, Tampa, FL 33606.

Arrangements entrusted to Ray Williams Funeral Home, Rhodes & Northern, Owners.

www.raywilliamsfuneralhome.com

Arrangements entrusted to McNeil Funerals, INC. 

1101 Rockingham Rd.

Rockingham, NC 28380

910-997-4638

blueoxygen2006@yahoo.com 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ms. Lillye McNeill Dumas, please visit our floral store.