Anna Wayne Brothers Saffels

Visitation for Mrs. Saffels will be held in the Chapel at Morgan Funeral Chapel, Attalla, AL. on Friday, December 6, 2024 from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm, and Saturday, December 7, 2024 from 10:00 am until the time of the Funeral service at 11:00 am. Interment will follow at Rainbow Memorial Gardens. Rev. Mel Johnson, Rev. Joseph Stafford Rowser Jr. and Stanley Spicer will officiate.

Mrs. Saffels was born at the home of her parents, Homer and Bertie Galloway Brothers in Gallant, Alabama on November 6, 1928. She and her husband of 51 years, George Aaron Saffels, made their home in the Ivalee Community, outside of Attalla, Alabama, from 1949, till his death in 1998, and she continued to live in their home until it became necessary for her to move in 2019 to McKendree Village, in Hermitage, Tennessee, near the home of her daughter, Elisabeth Saffels Spicer.

Growing up on her parents’ farm in Gallant, Alabama, Anna learned the importance of hard work from a very early age. She loved Jesus for as long as she could remember and was influenced strongly by her loving and God-fearing parents and grandparents, and by her church family. She loved learning and was an outstanding student, graduating from Etowah High School in 1946, from Jacksonville State Teachers College (now JSU), along with her husband, George Aaron Saffels, in 1949, and they graduated together again from The University of Alabama in Birmingham in 1975. They had met on campus as incoming freshman at the beginning of summer quarter, in June, 1946, and were married on December 21, 1946. Upon graduation, they moved to Ivalee Community outside of Attalla, to open Ivalee School, with her husband being the Principal and Sixth Grade Teacher, and her being the Fourth Grade Teacher. Her husband continued to serve as Principal at Ivalee until his retirement in 1980. In 1966, she was asked by the Board of Education office to move to the faculty of Etowah High School, her Alma Mater, to take a position in the Mathematics Department, and she continued teaching at Etowah till her retirement in 1986. In February 1950, they had each been instrumental in the founding of Ivalee Baptist Church, where they served in numerous capacities for the rest of their lives. She served as Pianist at the church from its founding in 1950, until her retirement from that position 66 years later. Their lives were made complete by the addition of their children Michael and Elisabeth, their grandchildren Steven, Lauren, Angelyn and Andrew, and she was thrilled later to meet great-grandchildren Henry, Isabela, Charlotte, Rachel, Elisa, and Caleb, and to include them in her family circle.

Preceded in death by her parents, Homer and Bertie Galloway; her husband, George Aaron Saffels; and her brothers, Earl Brothers, and Kenny Brothers.

Mrs. Saffels is survived by her brother, Bert Brothers (Joyce Stanley); her sister, Mary Ellen Brothers Smith; her son, Michael Saffels (Cathi Jones); her daughter, Elisabeth Saffels Spicer (Stanley); her grandchildren, Steven Saffels (Roberta Silva), Lauren Spicer Hamric (Lee), Angelyn Saffels Vaughan (Michael), and Andrew Spicer; and her great-grandchildren, Henry Vaughan, Isabela Saffels, Charlotte Vaughan, Rachel Hamric, Elisa Saffels, and Caleb Hamric; and a large number of nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews

Pallbearers are Danny Richey, Joel Saffels, Donnie Howard, Alan Brothers, Justin Campbell, and Brandon St. John. Honorary Pallbearers are her grandsons, Steven Saffels and Andrew Spicer; grandsons-in-law, Lee Hamric and Michael Vaughan; all nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews; and all members of Ivalee Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Ivalee Baptist Church; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; American Heart Association, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The family would like to extend special thanks to Suzanne, Patricia, Jackie, Daphney, Rachel, Sandy, Sonja, Thomas, Ken, and several others – who each went “Above and Beyond the Call of Duty” to provide loving care for Mother at McKendree Village.

Morgan Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.