Mary Frances Polk, lead vocalist in a traveling gospel ensemble, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at North Arundel Hospital. She was 75 and lived in Glen Burnie.

A member of a musical family -- her father and brothers were singers -- she learned to play the piano by ear as a child.

After local clergyman and singer Harold I. Williams heard her sing, he brought her to Baltimore about 60 years ago. She sang as a solo artist at local churches and theaters.

She then joined the famous Vashti Gospel Singers of Baltimore and performed with the group from the 1940s through the 1960s. The Vashti singers traveled coast to coast and appeared at Baptist churches, revivals, arenas and coliseums. She also sang at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem.

"She had five-octave range -- it was a huge voice," said her daughter, Hazelene Chase of Catonsville. "They called her 'the smiling singer.' She had a beautiful smile, no matter how high she sang. She was a devoutly religious person."

In the 1970s, she sang with Mary Frances Polk and the Gospel Allstars, a group composed of family members.

"She was one of the greatest female singers in this city in the gospel field," said Tommy Roberts, founder of the American Gospel Music Heritage Foundation. "She would sing you under the benches."

Born Bennie Frances Young -- she later changed her name to Mary -- in Durham, N.C., she graduated from Hillside High School.

Mrs. Polk also was a licensed practical nurse at Angel's Haven, a home for developmentally disabled children in Glen Burnie in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Her husband of 37 years, Olin Alonza Polk, died in 1983.

She was formerly a member of Gillis Memorial Christian Community Church and was active in its music ministry. She was later minister of music at First Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church, Fremont Avenue and Saratoga Street.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at New Bethlehem Free Will Baptist Church, 1400 N. Eden St.

Mrs. Polk is survived by another daughter, Laura Wanda Williams of Glen Burnie; six grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.