Laura Jean Landau Upshaw

Laura Jean Landau Upshaw died Sunday March 30, 2014, following a fall and a hip fracture. She was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, just north of Detroit, December 14, 1925. Her father was John Christian Landau and her mother was Edna Luella Zink Landau. She was raised in southeastern Michigan during the difficult times of the Great Depression. She was a 1950 graduate of the Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing in Detroit, where she was President of her class. She later worked as a Registered Nurse in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was proud to have served her country in the Nursing Corps of the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1961, being stationed at Fort McPherson, Georgia. She met her future husband there, and they married on December 5, 1959, in the post chapel of Fort McPherson. A Certificate of Achievement was awarded to her March 31, 1961 by the Commanding General, Third United States Army, Fort McPherson, with this citation: “Lieutenant Upshaw displayed extreme proficiency in all phases of nursing care, demonstrating initiative, resourcefulness and professional ability. She willingly accepted changes in assignments with the general interest and welfare of her patients in mind at all times. Her cheerful disposition, democratic approach, and proficient nursing won the respect of the professional staff, and improved the morale of the patients. The manner in which Lieutenant Upshaw performed her duties reflects great credit upon herself and upon the Third United States Army.”

She was the mother of six children: Charles Bell Upshaw, III (Connie) of Raleigh, North Carolina; Agnor LeRoy Upshaw (Jill) of Buies Creek, North Carolina; James Andrew Upshaw, M.D. (Amanda) of Macon, Georgia; Thomas Arthur Upshaw, M.D. (Jana) of Charleston, South Carolina; Mary Frances Upshaw Culpepper (Chris) of Roswell, Georgia; and Sarah Elizabeth Upshaw Crittenden, Esq. (Frank) of Atlanta, Georgia. There are nine grandchildren: Captain Charles Andrew Upshaw of Seoul, Korea; Grace Elizabeth Upshaw of Asheville, North Carolina; Mary Katherine Upshaw and Caroline Joy Upshaw of Buies Creek, North Carolina; Charles Bell Upshaw, IV, of Macon, Georgia; Helena Grace Upshaw and Bradley Aaron Upshaw of Charleston, South Carolina; and Margaret Hope Crittenden and Alexander Greene Crittenden of Atlanta, Georgia. She helped her physician husband's medical practice for many years, working in his office and getting to know the large number of his medical patients. She was a member and when her health permitted, attended regularly the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church. She will be remembered as a loyal and loving wife, a devoted mother, and a person who all her life was especially interested in the welfare of women and in strengthening opportunities available to women. She served as President of the Auxiliary of the Medical Association of Atlanta in 1983. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Charles Bell Upshaw, Jr., M.D., by her children and grandchildren, by her sister, Ruth Elizabeth Landau Werderitch (Richard) of Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. Funeral services will be held Thursday, the 3rd of April at one o’clock at Patterson’s Arlington Chapel with the Reverend Dr. Ken Ray and the Reverend Dr. Gil Watson officiating. Interment will follow at Westview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Nursing Service of Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, or to the charity of your choice. Friends are cordially invited to visit with the family from twelve o’clock noon until the hour of service at H. M. Patterson & Son Arlington Chapel, 173 Allen Road, NE, Sandy Springs, GA 30328