Mary Florence Roberts, the daughter of Charles Middleton Breaker Roberts and Agnes Jane Hale Roberts, was born and lived most of her life in Madisonville, Madison County, Texas. The Roberts family moved from Madisonville to Alvin, Texas in 1896 when Mary Florence was 23 years old. The family all lived and worked in Galveston and in Alvin, Brazoria County, Texas.

Mary Florence Roberts married Leon James Lackey in Galveston, Texas on March 1, 1900. They had only been married six months when they perished, along with Leon's mother and siblings, in the Hurricane that devastated Galveston Island on September 8, 1900. Mary was age 27 at the time of her death.

A family story states that Mary's father, CMB Roberts, identified one of Mary's belongings near the remains of her home at 1313 Broadway. This was a sewing machine cabinet found face down in the sand. The cabinet contained a scrap of material left from a dress Mary had recently made.

The loss of Mary Florence and Leon was a tragic event that the family never really recovered from.

A very short statement has been located in the Alvin Sun Times Newspaper, published on September 15, 1900. It is attached to the photographs for this memorial. The newspaper is torn and has water damage. However, the missing parts have been reconstructed. It says: "Mrs. M. F. Lackey, daughter of Mrs. A. J. Roberts of Alvin, was lost in Galveston.......". (M. F. would be Mary Florence and A. J. would be Agnes Jane). Mary Florence Lackey is also listed (as daughter-in-law of Mary Lackey) on the 1900 Storm Death Register from the Rosenberg Library in Galveston, Texas.

Mary Florence and Leon are listed among the dead in the Galveston, Texas, Hurricane death records. Apparently, the body of Leon Lackey was recovered and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery near his father and sister, Eva.