Laura Massey Rice, 83, of Stuart, Florida, formerly of Tifton, passed away Monday, May 19, 2003, at Martin Memorial South Hospital in Stuart, Florida. Her funeral service was held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 23, 2003, in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals with the Rev. Hayward Tomblin officiating. Mrs. Rice was laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Ned Feagin, Donald Massey, Tommy Massey, Billy Cox, Michael Brown and Jiggy Smaha, III served as pallbearers.
Born March 11, 1920, in Tifton, Mrs. Rice was the daughter of the late Forney Whit Massey and Dora Lee Rebecca Jane Williamson Massey. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Marvin Leonard Rice, who passed away in 1999; two brothers, Eber Massey and Lester Massey; and two sisters, Lorena Cosper and Verneta Cox. She was a mother and homemaker; and she was a member of Salem Baptist Church in Tifton, where she served as church pianist for 60 years. She had lived in Stuart, Florida since 1998.
Mrs. Rice is survived by one daughter and son-in-law, Jane and David Stein of Stuart, Florida; one sister, Geneva Feagin of Americus; one sister-in-law, Hazel Massey of Tifton; two grandchildren, Michael Brown and Jiggy Smaha, III; and two great-grandchildren, Jiggy Smaha, IV and Langley Sinclair Smaha.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, Southwest Georgia Regional Office, 2402 Tift Avenue North, Suite 102, Tifton, GA 31794 or the American Heart Association, 3338-L Country Club Road, PMB 305, Valdosta, GA 31605.