My grandmother, Gertrude Martin Sanders, was fascinated with people who lived to celebrate their 90th birthday (and beyond). She collected articles and obituaries from the Memphis area newspapers about this special group of people. Unfortunately, there are few dates attached to the obituaries; however, the information contained in each is priceless.
Reading these reminded me (again) of the resiliency of the human spirit and the precious lessons our elderly can teach us. Enjoy!
| ALLEN, Pearce | ALLEN, Tarce | BAILEY, Bernice |
| CLAY, Mary Flippin | FIRTH, Willie | FLIPPIN, Mary |
| FRANKLIN, Bernice Bailey | GURKIN, John W. | MACLIN, Imogene |
| POINDEXTER, Cornelia | WILLIAMS, Willie Firth |
Services for Pearce ALLEN, 106, of 2476 Whitten Road, retired farmer, will be at noon Saturday at Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church with burial in Galilee Memorial Gardens. Mr. Allen died yesterday at his home after a long illness, his daughter, Mrs. Susie REESE of Memphis, said. He was born October 10, 1872. He was a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church and had farmed with a mule and plow in Shelby County until he was about 96, Mrs. Reese said. Until about 1972, Mr. Allen "remained active and had a good mind " but suffered a fall which caused him to become inactive, Mrs. Reese said. She said Mr. Allen's father, Lily Elmo ALLEN, lived to be 117. He also leaves five sons, Edward ALLEN, James ALLEN, Willie ALLEN, Herbert ALLEN and Ezell ALLEN, all of Memphis; two other daughters, Mrs. Catherine CRUTCHFIELD and Mrs. Bessie Mae BECTON, both of Memphis; a 98-year-old brother, Kaiser ALLEN of Memphis; 20 grandchildren; 34 great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren.
H. Payne Funeral Home is in charge of services.
A 106-year-old man who farmed with a mule and plow until he was about 96 died Tuesday at his home. Tarce ALLEN, of 2476 Whitten, who was born in Somerville, Tenn., Oct. 10, 1872, retired from farming only " after we became scared he would be hurt," said his daughter, Mrs. Susie Reese of Memphis. She said, "His mind was good and he was in good health. And he didn't quit working then. He would get up and do a lot of yard work." He became inactive, she said, after a fall in 1972. "He stopped walking and had had been in bed for over a year when he died. He wouldn't try to make over a few steps. He didn't talk much about the old days too much. He was just kind of quiet." She said Mr. Allen's father, Lily Elmo ALLEN lived to be 117, and his mother, Sallie Ann ALLEN was 76 when she died. She said Mr. Allen was the 10th of the couple's 16 children. He is survived by a brother, 98-year-old Kaiser ALLEN of Memphis. He also leaves two other daughters, Mrs. Catherine CRUTCHFIELD and Mrs. Bessie Mae BECTON, five sons, Edward ALLEN, James ALLEN, Willie ALLEN, Ezell ALLEN and Herbert ALLEN, all of Memphis, and 20 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren.
Services will be at noon Saturday at Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church with burial in Galilee Memorial Gardens. H. Payne Funeral Home has charge.
Mrs. Mary FLIPPIN CLAY, 100, a patient at Bright Glade Nursing Home, died at 12:45 this morning at the nursing home. Mrs. Clay was the widow of J.N. CLAY and had been an active member of Bartlett United Methodist Church and Oakland United Methodist Church in Oakland , Tenn. She leaves two sons, J.N. CLAY Jr. and Armistead F. CLAY, attorney; both of Memphis; two daughters, Mrs. Leonard VAIDEN of Memphis and Mrs.. Lyle B. WALLER of Morganfield, Ky; four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Graveside services at 11:30a.m. tomorrow in Memorial Park. Memphis Funeral Home Poplar Chapel.
Mrs. Bernice BAILEY FRANKLIN, 90, of Collierville, formerly of LaGrange, Tenn., widow of William E. FRANKLIN Jr., died at 8:50 p.m. Wednesday at Baptist Hospital. Services will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Immanuel Episcopal Church in LaGrange, where she was a communicant, with burial in LaGrange Cemetery. Peebles Fayette County Funeral Home in Somerville, Tenn., has charge. She leaves two sons, William E. FRANKLIN, III of Bakersfield, Calif., and John W. FRANKLIN of Brunswick, Ga., seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Services for John W. GURKIN of Rossville, Tenn., who died there Friday, will be 2 p.m. today at Brantley Funeral Home in Collierville. Burial will be in Pleasant Grove Cemetery. Mr. GURKIN, at 92, was on of Fayette County's oldest residents. He was born in Morristown, Tenn., and moved to the Rossville area during his childhood. As a young man, Mr. GURKIN ran a freight wagon between Memphis and Rossville. He later became a dairyman and farmer. His father, with the late Colonel PYLE, help build the Southern Railroad lines. Mr. GURKIN had been an invalid for 15 years.
Services Today for Member of Old Tennessee Family
Miss Imogene MACLIN, who was born at her grandmother's home in Fayette County, Tenn., nine days after the Battle of Shiloh, died at 4:30 a.m. yesterday at her home at 875 Evergreen. She was 101. Services will be at 2:30 p.m. today at the Presbyterian Church in Mason, Tenn. Burial will be...(remainder missing).
Mrs. Cornelia POINDEXTER often boasted she had never spent a day of her life in a hospital. And when she died yesterday at her home at 485 King Road, the 108-year-old woman could still make that claim. One of her daughters, Mrs. Drucilla COBURN, with whom she lived, said her mother died in her sleep. She discovered Mrs. Poindexter's body about 6 a.m. yesterday when she tried to awaken her. "She was a good mama. The only time she ever got sick and had to go to bed was to have her babies. She always told us that above everything else, we should be good Christians and serve God. She said she had always taken care of herself and served God, " Mrs. Coburn said. She said Mrs. Poindexter was born April 6, 1870 in Fayette County, Tenn., near Mason, Tenn. "She lost her sight when she got older. But she could get up, take a bath, eat a meal and dress herself just like the rest of us. She was really active and her mind was really good. Her only complaint was this trouble with her head that would have driven me crazy." Mrs. Poindexter, the second of nine children, was also the mother of nine children. Her husband, Mose POINDEXTER, died in 1952. She was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church. J.C. Oates and Sons Funeral Home has charge. She leaves another daughter, Mrs. Lucille JONES of Memphis; two sons, Eugene POINDEXTER of Memphis and Jonas POINDEXTER of Chicago; a brother, Matthews BOYLAND of Mason, Tenn., nine grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and great-great-great-grandchildren.
Mrs Willie FIRTH WILLLIAMS, who celebrated her 100th birthday last Oct 30 with a congratulatory letter from President Gerald R. Ford, died at Methodist Hospital at 7:55 a.m. today. Mrs. Williams had made her home with her daughter, Margaret Williams at 1814 Poplar, Apt. 17. Miss Williams said her mother had gradually lost her eyesight, but remained in relatively good health until admitted to the hospital Sept.1. Mrs. Williams was born in Memphis in 1875 and left the city in 1878 during the Yellow Fever epidemic, after the death of her father, who was a fever victim. Her mother moved her four small children to LaGrange, Tenn., to join her family there. The family returned to Memphis 20 years later. She was the widow of John P. WILLIAMS, a Memphis lumberman who died in 1934. She leaves two other daughters, Mrs. John D. PARISH and Mrs. W.P. BROWN, both of Memphis; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Memphis Funeral Home on Union will be in charge of arrangements.
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