Martha Atchison Neal

Services for Martha Atchison Neal, age 84, of Crawfordville, GA will be held at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at Crawfordville Baptist Church, 142 Memorial Drive, Crawfordville, GA 30631 with Rev. Randy Byrd and Rev. Dennis Garner officiating and The Byrd Family Quartet from Augusta will bring special music. Interment will follow in the family plot at the Crawfordville Cemetery. Mrs. Neal died Sunday morning, May 30, 2010 at her residence. She was born on May 17, 1926 to the late Jim and Eleanor Atchison of Crawfordville, GA. She was a graduate of Alexander Stephens Institute. While she visited all churches in the area, she joined the Crawfordville Baptist Church over 60 years ago and remained faithful to her church all of her life.

Mrs. Neal was employed as a clerk at her father''s store, Atchison Department Store and by the Royal Manufacturing Company in Crawfordville. She later worked as Interpretive Park Ranger for the Confederate Museum and Liberty Hall at the Alexander H. Stephens State Park in Crawfordville until her health forced her retirement. She was authoritative on the history of the Confederate period and was always ready to help with ancestral research.

Always active in the community, Mrs. Neal served for several years as local news reporter for The Advocate Democrat. She was instrumental in reinstating the A. H. Stephens Chapter #328 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1994. She was awarded the Jefferson Davis Gold Medal for service to UDC in 2003. She served for many years on the Board of the Taliaferro County Historical Society and helped plan community activities.

Mrs. Neal was preceded in death by her husbands, Rev. Charles E. Schuff and Joseph A. Neal both of Crawfordville; two sisters, Charlotte Frances Atchison who died as an infant and Lillie Mae Atchison Hancock of New York. She is survived by a son, Rev. Kenneth Schuff; sister, Lettie "Boots" Ashworth of Fayetteville; and grandchildren, Kim Yearwood and husband Lee and Shelly Norris and husband Steve and great grandchildren, Katie Lynn Norris and Lilly Mae Norris all of Crawfordville, GA; and a number of cousins.

Serving as pallbearers are T. C. Harrington, Charles Atchison, Larry Stewart, Charles Greene, Robert Harold Kendrick, Bobby Jones and Billy Woodruff. The family wishes to thank her caregivers for their loving care: Sabrina Wilson, Monica Dimorier and Ute Barrow. Donations, in lieu of flowers may be made to the Cemetery Fund, Crawfordville Baptist Church, c/o Billy Woodruff, 2394 Sharon Road, Crawfordville, GA 30631. Visitation will be held on Monday night, May 30, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Callaway Funeral Home. Callaway Funeral Home, 208 N. Rhodes St., Union Point, GA, (706) 486-4138, is in charge of arrangements. Visit us at www.callawayfuneralhome.com to sign the online guest register.

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