MARTHA ANN PUCKETT THOMPSON

Mrs. Martha Ann Puckett Thompson, longtime resident of DeFuniak Springs, and widow of the late  attorney W. Paul Thompson passed away at the home of her daughter in Wetumpka, Alabama.  She was born in Fort Gaines, Georgia, the daughter of  Eddie Clate Puckett, Sr. and Mattie Monfort Puckett.  Martha Ann attended Walton County Schools graduating with the Class of  1951, and  within months, she and her high school sweetheart were married before he began his tour of duty with the military.  She and Paul lived in various places throughout the U.S. and Martha Ann was able to find employment in each place, most notably when she was  Senior Executive Administrative Assistant to Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs at the University of Florida.  After his military commitment and he had obtained his law degree, Martha Ann and Paul came back home where Paul set up practice and Martha Ann became what her natural talent was, homemaker, wife, daughter, sister, mother, grandmother and friend.  In the midst of all of these jobs, which she did well she had time to explore her love of beauty as she created floral displays and crochet and porcelain creations and after Paul’s untimely and sudden death, opened her own business in the creation of Holiday Sea Shells.  Throughout it all she had her trusted friend and confidant, Bertha Hood who assisted Martha Ann in her duties as “attorney’s wife, and the callings of her social obligations of women in the Old South during that era.  Martha Ann was not exempt from the trials and tribulations of life and suffered through her share of them, all the while remaining a “lady”, perhaps because of the confidence she had in her brothers after the loss of her husband.  Ed and Robert were fiercely protective of their sister.  Martha Ann’s later years were spent caring for her own mother, and relishing in the love and admiration she had for her daughter and her grandson, all the while busying herself in the creation of beauty, much of which she gave away to friends and family.  Martha Ann’s health began to fail and she moved from the place where most of her life was spent to live with her daughter and son-in-law, where she then received back some of the love and care and concern she had so freely given most of her life. One year, to the day of her passing,  her only living brother Robert had arranged for a gathering of people that had been Martha Ann’s friends for years and years;  a beautiful sunny afternoon was spent in Robert’s home, remembering, laughing and enjoying the abundance of a catered brunch as memories and stories were shared.  The occasion was Martha Ann to the “T”, but those who knew Martha Ann could see that the time was near.  One year later, in the early morning hours of  Sunday, October 22, 2017 Martha Ann left, to follow Paul once again.   She
is predeceased by her parents, her husband, her brother Ed Puckett, Jr. and wife Frances Jean Creel Puckett and her nephews, Eddie Clate Puckett, III and John Edward Puckett.

Among survivors are her daughter, Ann Thompson Sherman and husband Mike; her grandson, Paul Waller; her step grandchildren, Christina Rhodes and husband Mike and Michael Sherman and wife Elyse;  her brother William Robert Puckett;  her step  great grandchildren, Chase, Hake and Lawson; her sister-in-law Gretchen Thompson McCall; her nieces Jan, Michele, Donna, Beth, Mary Grace and her nephews, James, Robert Puckett, Jr. and wife Sherry.

Memorials may be made in Martha Ann Puckett Thompson’s memory to First United Methodist Church, 88 Circle Drive, DeFuniak Springs, Florida 32435   A time of visitation will be Wednesday, October 25, 2017 from 10 until 11 A.M. in Jerry Evans Chapel with the funeral beginning at 11 A.M.  with Reverend Francis Turner and Reverend  Robert Puckett, Jr. officiating.   Private family interment will be in the Puckett/Thompson Plot in Magnolia Cemetery.