Mrs. Tyler taught special education and industrial arts in Philadelphia public schools from 1948 until retiring in 1982. Her first assignment was at Madison School in Fishtown, and she spent most of her career at Douglas High School in Port Richmond.

A native of Norfolk, Va., she earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University in 1946. She later earned a certificate of design from McDowell School of Design in New York City and a master's degree in industrial arts from New York University.

Before teaching in Philadelphia, Mrs. Tyler was a home economics consultant for Stanley Holmes Village, a public housing complex in Atlantic City, and taught mentally disabled women at Laurelton State Village in Union County.

Mrs. Tyler's grandmother, Hattie Ann Fisher, had been born a slave and attended Hampton Institute in Virgina with Booker T. Washington before becoming a teacher, said a daughter, Beryl Faulk-Booth. Because of her heritage, her daughter said, Mrs. Tyler felt she, too, was destined to be an educator.

Mrs. Tyler was active with numerous professional organizations. She was past president of the Philadelphia Chapter of Chums Inc., a service group, and a member of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs. She was a member of the Lamplighters, Valkyries, and 55 Alive Clubs at Pinn Memorial Baptist Church in Wynnefield.

"She was a person who could fix things and get a job done," her daughter said. "People marveled at how fast she could make a dress, a costume, design a bulletin board, or decorate a room.

Mrs. Tyler's husband of 30 years, William C. Tyler, died in 1996. She is also predeceased by a former husband, Montique Garrett, and seven siblings.

She is survived by another daughter, Velma LaVerne Jones; two grandsons, and a former husband, John S. Faulk.

A funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Pinn Memorial Baptist Church, 2251 N 54th St. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Hillcrest Cemetery, Pitman.