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.                               

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"Mahon Lee Clements Obituary Graveside funeral services for Mahon Lee Clements, age 75, will be held at 2:00 P.M. Friday, April 4, 2025, at Mt. Olive Church of the Nazarene Cemetery. Mr. Thurmon Foskey will officiate.

Mr. Clements was born on February 7, 1950, in Dublin, Georgia. He was a member of the Mt. Olive Church of the Nazarene where he served as a work and witness team member. He was a licensed contractor, electrician and plumber and later worked for the Department of Transportation as a general trade craftsman foreman. He was preceded in death by his parents, Marvin and Ruby Foskey Clements and siblings Kenneth Clements, Ronnie Clements, David Clements, Charles Clements, Troy Clements, Aurelia Clements Garnto and Lois Clements Poole. Mr. Clements passed away on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at his residence.

Mr. Clements is survived by his wife, Mary Frances Clements of Kite, 2 daughters, Ramona Clements (Alan) Smith and Karen Clements (Garyth) Everett of Tennille; 2 brothers, Gerald Clements and Wadell (Betty) Clements of Wrightsville; sister, Elizabeth Tyson of Dublin; sister-in-law, Ann Tyson of Dublin; grandchildren, Spencer (Josephine Hedrick) Smith, Carson Everett, Ethan Smith, and Mallory Everett; and a host of nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Jim Musselwhite, Stanley Clements, Stevie Clements, Jay Foskey, Elliott Tyson and Joe McCullough.

Stanley Funeral Home and Crematory/Wrightsville Chapel has charge of the funeral arrangements."

- Official Obituary courtesy of Stanley Funeral Home & Crematory, Wrightsville Chapel

    Mahon was my 4th cousin, 1x removed. Our common ancestors are Archibald Odom III and Isabella Elizabeth Anderson.

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