Mary Sue was born to William and Mary W. Powell in Dallas, Texas. She had two younger sisters, Connie and Teresa. While growing up in Dallas, Mary Sue attended Woodrow Wilson High School and then went on to Wentworth Junior College in Brookhaven, Mississippi. She spent her summers at her father's farm in Alabama. Mary Sue graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in Home Economics.
While on a summer holiday in Golden, Colorado, Mary Sue met a boy in a convertible. This man, Wayne Arthur Campbell, and Mary Sue carried on a "summer romance that lasted over 65 years". Mary Sue and Wayne married at the Methodist Church in Golden, Colorado in 1957.
Mary Sue and Wayne went on to have two children: Gary Wayne and Linda Campbell. They had a total of seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren (and counting).
Due to Wayne's work for the Adolf Coors Company, Mary Sue and her family lived in Dallas and Oklahoma City before permanently calling Tulsa home in 1962. Not only did Mary Sue raise two children, but she also acted as secretary and treasurer for Wayne's Coors distributorship: Campbell Beverage. Mary Sue and Wayne were able to travel the world thanks to the Adolf Coors Company. Together, they explored Europe, Australia, Hawaii, and the Bahamas.
Mary Sue will be remembered as a woman who embodied Southern charm, especially in her home cooking. Memories of her love of the Dallas Cowboys, playing bridge with friends, growing her orchids, feeding her family, and, maybe most importantly, the movie Gone with the Wind, will forever be etched on the hearts of those who knew and loved her. She is survived by her husband, her daughter, her grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She will be laid to rest in Golden, Colorado.