The Honorable Mary E. Buchan was born September 26, 1952, in Mullins, South Carolina, to parents Clara Webb Buchan Maxwell and James R. Buchan. She received her B.A. degree from Presbyterian College. She attended graduate school at the University of South Carolina and obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1980. In 1982, she formed Whittington & Buchan with Edward W. Whittington Jr. in Mullins, South Carolina. In 1992, she was elected family court judge of the 12th Judicial Circuit in Marion, South Carolina.
Judge Buchan was a member of the S.C. Bar, Marion County Bar Association, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, S.C. Family Court Judges Association, S.C. Women Lawyers Association and Commission on Judicial Conduct. She was admitted to practice in all S.C. courts and in the U.S. District Court for the District of S.C. Judge Buchan served on the board of directors of Davis National Bank and was a member of Friends of the Marion Museum, Pee Dee Academy Parent-Teacher Association and various other committees. She was a member of Marion Presbyterian Church, where she served as deacon, elder, Sunday school teacher and member of the Endowment Committee.
The Honorable Mary E. Buchan died on July 4, 2007. She is survived by her husband, Ernest M. Graham Jr.; daughter, Martha A. Graham; stepdaughter, Rebecca E. Graham; stepson, David M. Graham; and her mother, Clara Webb Buchan Maxwell.