Margaret G. Branch, 94, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Thursday, January 28, 2010, at her residence.
Funeral services will be held 4 P.M. Sunday, January 31, at the Paulk Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. Mike Ruffin and Rev. Jim Faircloth officiating. Sandy Bostelman will deliver the eulogy. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7-9 Saturday evening at the funeral home.
Mrs. Branch was born July 26, 1915 in Fitzgerald to the late William Jefferson and Alice Hyde Greer. Moving back to Fitzgerald in 1979, she was a former resident of the Washington D.C. area. Mrs. Branch was a former Resident Manager at the YWCA in New York City and South Orange, NJ. She worked many years for Bloomingdale's Department Store serving as a floor manager and in the personnel department. She was elected to the Fitzgerald Water Light & Bond Commission in 1990 and served until 2000. Mrs. Branch served on the National Board of Directors for the Salvation Army under five presidents, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford and Carter. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Fitzgerald. Mrs. Branch was a Gold Star Mother, having had her only child, Capt. William A. “Bill” Branch, killed in action in the Vietnam War.
She is survived by her granddaughter: Jennifer Branch (John) Denard of Naples, FL; great grandchildren: Eli Branch Denard, Owen Anderson Denard and Emma Grace Denard; nephews and a niece: Dr. David W. (Kelly) Gould, III of Midlothian, VA, Tom (Laura) Gould of Maiden, NC, and Charlene G. Alker and a great-niece: Greer Thompson. Along with her parents and son, she was preceded in death by her husband, William R. “Rusty” Branch.
Memorials may be sent to North Georgia College, William A. “Bill” Branch Scholarship Fund, % NGCSU, P.O. Box 1599, Dahlonega, GA 30533.