Mary Lou (Lee) Stanton was born to the union of Hosea Lee, Sr., and Laura Mae (Nesbitt) Lee on March 16, 1932, in Tifton, Georgia. She was the third of four children.

Looking for better opportunities, the Lee family migrated north settling in Detroit in the late 1930s. Mary Lou was educated in the Detroit Public School System, graduating from Pershing High School in 1950 and later attending Highland Park Junior College. While there, she met Hastley Stanton, and they were united in Holy Matrimony on June 25, 1955. They were blessed with three children, one of whom, Paul Allen, died soon after birth. Mary Lou and Hastley were married for 52 years before he preceded her in death in 2007.

Mary Lou had a long career with the federal government.  She worked for 35 years for the US Tank & Automotive Command (TACOM) in Warren, Michigan; first in the Data Processing Dept, then in Computer Programming toward the end of her career, before retiring in 1988.

Raised as a Baptist, Mary Lou was drawn to Roman Catholicism as a teenager. She converted and was baptized as a young adult at Holy Ghost Catholic Church and was a devout Catholic her entire adult life. Due to church closures in the archdiocese, throughout her life she was a steadfast member of three parishes, Visitation, St. Gregory The Great, and finally, St. Moses The Black. During later years, when she was unable to regularly attend mass at her home parish, she attended services and helped organize the weekly rosary devotion in her retirement community. In addition to the rosary, Mary Lou found solace in the prayers and example of St. Jude and St Anthony of Padua.

While at St. Gregorys, Mary Lou served on the Benevolence Committee, was an associate member of the Altar Society, and also assisted with counting the church's receipts. Mary Lou was a member of the Knights of Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary since 1977. Serving in various positions, she was awarded the Northern District Woman of the Year Award in 2000.

Mary Lou was a generous and caring person who had a strong commitment to family, devoting the first few years of her retirement to caring for her first-born granddaughter. Later, she became the primary caregiver for her mother who suffered with dementia for several years. Mary Lou also managed the affairs of another relative who was disabled. After retirement, she took great joy annually in assembling Easter baskets with her friends for needy Seniors. She also contributed to various charities such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Mary Lou was a concerned citizen who closely followed politics and current events on television and never missed an opportunity cast her ballot in an election.

As a younger woman, Mary Lou enjoyed traveling with her friends. She enjoyed collecting cookbooks and recipes. She was an excellent cook and loved to feed people! But her specialty and passion was baking cakes, cookies, pies, and other desserts. In later years as her health began to fail, she enjoyed watching tennis, classic movies, and old sitcoms on television as well as keeping in contact over the phone with her extensive network of friends.

After suffering two debilitating strokes, Mary Lou spent the final two years of her life in the loving care of the staff of St. Anne's Mead nursing facility. Although she was virtually bedridden, she tried her best to maintain a sense of humor. She liked to interact with her caregivers and enjoyed visits and phone calls from her family and friends.

Mary Lou leaves to cherish her memory, two devoted sons: Michael (Glinder), and Eric (Anne); four grandchildren: Glen, Martina, Jacob and Laura; four great grandchildren: Jordan, A'den, Austen, and Melanie; one niece: Kelli Lee-Mason who was especially close to her heart; and a host of other dear family and friends who will miss her greatly.