Martha Sanders Brown

Martha Sanders Brown of Sautee Nacoochee passed away on Sunday, May 14, 2017. She was 96 years old. 

Mrs. Brown was born on March 8, 1921. She grew up on a farm in Harperville, Mississippi.  Growing up, her family raised chickens and she worked in their cotton fields.  After high school, she attended busi-ness school. Her first job was as a bookkeeper in an ice factory where, before there were refrigerators in her town, blocks of ice were sold to homes for iceboxes. 

Martha met Clifton Brown in high school. They married in 1941. They moved around from army base to army base during World War II, and eventually settled in Hialeah, Florida. Mrs. Brown was a home-maker, church leader and bookkeeper in her husband’s construction business. 

Her creativity flowered in her home, with her cooking and sewing. “She raised four daughters and sewed all their clothes, from shorts and tops to prom dresses,” daughter Annette Brown said. 

During her long life, Mrs. Brown always read her Bible.  “I gave my heart to the Lord when I was thir-teen,” she said. She was baptized in the creek at Harperville Baptist Church, in Mississippi. 

Much later in life, when Mrs. Brown went to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca and Lad-die Rollins in Sautee Nacoochee, Ga., she attended Nacoochee Presbyterian Church with them. When attending church became a hardship for her, she watched services on her television. In the after-noons, she watched Atlanta Braves games. Her father had loved baseball, too: when Mrs. Brown was a little girl, they would listen to games on the radio together. 

Mrs. Brown pondered the true message of Jesus. Grandson Scott Smith said of Mrs. Brown, “No mat-ter what wrong I might have done, she was one person who always loved me and always prayed for me.” 

Daughter Sherry Smith said, “She taught Sunday School and tended to the poor at the migrant center, where volunteers bathed, fed and read stories to the children. “I believe, as it says in Proverbs, that her works would bring her praise in the city gates.” 

One morning, daughter and caregiver Becky Rollins went into Mom’s bedroom and asked her, “Mom, are you ready to get up?” 

“Yes, I think I’ve prayed for everyone,” Mom replied.  Her daughters often heard her say before going to bed, “It took me awhile to go to sleep because I wasn’t done praying for everyone.” 

“I never heard her say anything bad about anyone,” son-in-law Laddie Rollins said. 

” We were brought up in the kiss-and-make-up generation,” daughter Becky Rollins said. 

Children and grandchildren alike remember Mom as a wonderful cook. Her three daughters,  Sherry, Becky and Annette, all inherited her gift of serving cooking delicious meals served with love. 

Mrs. Brown was preceded in death by her husband, Clifton Cox Brown and a daughter, Linda Kay Brown. She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law Sherry and Richard Smith of Tishimingo, Mis-sissippi; Rebecca and Laddie Rollins of Sautee Nacoochee, and daughter Annette Brown of Atlanta. 

She is survived by her grandchildren Brent Rollins, Kyle and Diana Rollins, Susan and Allan Garcia, Debo-rah Smith Jourdan, Wanda and Bryan Southward and Scott and Dana Smith. 

She is also survived by her great-grandchildren Adrian Garcia, Gabriel Garcia, Molly and Sam Lewellen, Katie Rose Jourdan, Ellie Smith, Camille and Michal Miller and Luke Smith; and great-great-grandchildren Wyatt Lewellen and Gatlin Miller. 

Funeral services are scheduled for 11:00 AM Saturday, May 27, 2017 at Harperville Baptist Church. Interment will follow in Harperville Cemetery. 

The family will receive friends from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Saturday prior to the funeral service. 

Online condolences can be made to the family at barrettfh.com 

Barrett Funeral Home Cleveland, GA in charge of local arrangements.