Montine M. Mathews, 84, of Knoxville, GA, formerly of Fitzgerald, died Friday, July 24, at her daughter’s residence.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at the Paulk Funeral Home Chapel, Fitzgerald, with Dr. Lloyd Stembridge officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends Tuesday morning from 9:00 until the funeral hour, at the funeral home.
Mrs. Mathews was born September 18, 1924, in Ware Co., to the late Hamp and Maggie Hendrix Mizell. She was raised in the Okefenokee Swamp in Ware County on the Mizell homestead near her father's lake, Hamp Mizell Lake, also known as Suwanee Lake. Her family was one of the original pioneer settlers of the Swamp which is documented in many books and video footage. She was a 1943 graduate of Manor High School, worked at the shipyard in Brunswick during WWII, and for C. and H. Restaurant in Waycross. She was also a former employee of the King Edward cigar factory in Waycross and an Avon representative. Having lived most of her life in Fitzgerald, Mrs. Mathews was a graduate of Ben Hill-Irwin Technical School, where she became a Certified Nursing Assistant, and was employed by the Ben Hill County Hospital and Dorminy Medical Center. She was also a former Pink Lady, did volunteer work with the Girl Scouts, and sat with and cared for people in their homes. Mrs. Mathews was a member of Arbor Baptist Church, in Fitzgerald, and was a member of the Sanctuary Sunday School Class. Her hobbies included singing hymns while accompanying herself on the piano or the pump organ. These hobbies were God-given talents, as she never had any formal musical training. Mrs. Mathews had many friends and they will all miss her dearly.
Mrs. Mathews is survived by her children: Janice (Dan) Sykes of Knoxville, GA, Ramsey Mathews of Los Angeles, CA, and Richard (Teresa) McBride of Austin, TX: 7 Grandchildren and 3 Great Grandchildren: 2 sisters: Rhoda Mizell Barber of Sanderson, FL, and Sadie Marie Phillips of Orange Park, FL. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harold R. Mathews, who was a life-long resident of Fitzgerald, and a sister, Alice Steedley, formerly of Homerville.
The family requests, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to Arbor Baptist Church Building Fund, 1137 Merrimac Dr. Ext., Fitzgerald, GA, 31750.