Sympathy Saturday

     Sympathy Saturday will be where I share the obituaries and my condolences for members of my family tree who passed recently.  When you get to be a certain age, you begin to read the obituaries every day.  As the days go by, you read about more and more of your friends and family members who have died.  You compare their age to your own and get a jolt. "That could have been me." 

    For genealogists, checking obituaries and visiting cemeteries is as normal as breathing. I learn so much from an obituary, i.e., maiden names, parents' names; children's' and grandchildren's' names, funeral and burial locations, sometimes even a cause of death.  I want to learn these things not for any purpose but to put it on the family tree for future generations to see and learn about the family that went before them. I admit, most of these relatives I have never met, but I think it is important to share that they were here on this Earth, and they were important.

    So I am signed up with at least three funerals homes from Swainsboro, Vidalia, and Wrightsville to get daily notices of obituaries sent to my email.  Every day, I peruse them and with the help of the family tree, figure out who is related to me and add any new information to the tree.    Some weeks there are several, and some weeks there are none. This week there was one who actually passed away months ago.

"Official Obituary of

Sherry Jean Edenfield

September 3, 1963 ~ January 1, 2025 (age 61)

Ms. Sherry Jean Purvis Edenfield, 61, of Kite passed on the wings of an angel into the loving arms of our Lord, Wednesday, January 1, 2025, at Piedmont Hospital in Augusta due to liver failure. She was born on September 3, 1963, in Swainsboro, to the late Bennie S and Margie Williams. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Thomas Ray Purvis; brother, Billy Ray Williams.  Sherry loved her children and grandchildren very much.  She enjoyed fishing, gardening, going to the beach at St. Simons Island, and collecting Indian artifacts and amethyst stones.  Sherry was a good cook and very strong-willed.

Sherry is survived by her sons, Phil Riner of Kemp, Dustin Edenfield, Kyle M. Edenfield, both of Kite, J.L. Purvis of Colorado; daughters, Nicole Osika of Clearwater, FL, LeAnn Weber of Wisconsin; brother, Cliff Willams of Kite; sisters, Judy Riner of Swainsboro, Brenda Creech of Kite, Trish Wheeler of Harlem; 14 grandchildren; 4 Great Grandchildren; several nieces, nephews and many friends.

Memorial service will be held Sunday, April 20, 2025, at 2:00 P.M. at Gumlog Primitive Baptist Church in Kite.

Condolences may be expressed at www.chapmanfhofswainsboro.com.

Chapman Funeral Home of Swainsboro is in charge of the arrangements for Ms. Sherry Jean Edenfield, 61, of Kite." - Obituary courtesy of Chapman Funeral Home, Swainsboro, Georgia

Sherry was married to my 2nd cousin, 1x removed, Thomas Franklin Purvis, Jr.  Our common ancestors are James Madison "Jim" Tapley and Elizabeth Rebecca "Becky" Page Tapley.

Please join me in offering condolences to Sherry's family and holding them in the light.