Sarah M Mitchell

Sarah (Sally) Matthews Mitchell, 89, of Columbus, Georgia gracefully exited the stage here on earth Saturday, July 15, 2017, at the Columbus Hospice House. She immediately began entertaining her family and friends upon her arrival in heaven. A funeral service will be held 2:00 pm, Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at Wynnbrook Baptist Church, with graveside immediately following at Parkhill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, one hour prior to the service at the church. Dr. Kevin Calhoun will officiate.

Mrs. Mitchell, affectionately called Bma, by her grandchildren, their friends, and her great-grandchildren, was born on April 1, 1928, in Fortson, Georgia, daughter of the late Frederick Jolly and Myrtis Vardaman Matthews. She was the devoted wife of the late William Doss Mitchell for over fifty years. They spent their time enjoying their children and grandchildren, playing bridge with friends and keeping up their beautiful yard and garden. She began her dance career as a child and performed with her sister, Jolly, for the soldiers at Fort Benning during WWII. After graduating with honors from Columbus High School in 1945, she turned down a scholarship to Berry College in favor of being a dance instructor with the Anna Dozier School of Dance. She was always a beautiful lady and a dazzling dancer. She retired from the Jenna David Dance School with over 30 years of experience. She was a life-long member of the Dance Masters of America, the Town and Country Garden Club, the Garden Club Council of Georgia and Wynnbrook Baptist Church. She was very involved in numerous church activities. She was the director of the Women’s Missionary Union, Vacation Bible School, orchestrated at least eighteen (18) Easter and Christmas dramas, and taught Sunday School, Training Union and Girls Auxiliary. The church members affectionately knew her as Lottie Moon. She danced and sang in her later years for the Merry Makers, a church group that entertained nursing homes. She also enjoyed performing with Pam at various functions with her grade school classes.

She loved both of her daughters very much and was a very talented mother. As a seamstress, she dressed her girls as little dolls. Their friends would ask where they bought the pretty clothes that she made. She was Becky’s Brownie Scout leader. Bma was the best grandmother that anyone could ask for. Her light shined brighter when she was in the presence of her grandsons, Todd and Matt. Their friends still talk about her famous Bma Burger that she would cook for them whenever they visited her and Dda. When she was blessed with her great-grandchildren, Pamela and Johnny, she would often ride with Pam to visit them in Sunny Isles Beach, FL, until her health prevented her from traveling. Each summer when they were visiting Columbus, she would be right there with them, playing school with Pamela, watching the Braves with Johnny and watching both of them playing in the yard. She was very proud to take them to church on Sunday’s where she loved to show them off to everyone. She looked forward to visits from Cole and they loved to draw together and eat Zeb’s together. She was admired by many as a woman who was given numerous gifts by God and graciously used them to benefit others. She leaves behind a legacy of love, hope and faith and the way she showed this was how she lived her life.

Survivors include her two daughters, Becky (Joe) Bowers and Pam Batton: two grandsons, Todd Cox of Sunny Isles Beach, FL, and Matt Cox, of Columbus and two great-grandchildren, Pamela and Johnny Cox of Sunny Isles Beach, FL, Joe’s children, Donna (Jody) Lowery, Charlene (John) Benn and Amy Richardson and their grandchildren, Morgan Lowery, Travis and Cody Benn, and Cole Richardson also held a special place in her heart. She also leaves behind her many beloved nieces and nephews, cousins, and a plethora of loving friends.

Other than her parents, she was preceded in death by two loving sisters, May Gordy Matthews and Fredricka Jolly Fields; two brothers-in-law, Lawrence Fields and James Lane, and two nephews, Joe and Jay Fields. Her precious sister-in-law, Carolyn Mitchell Lane, recently preceded her.

We join her in offering much gratitude to her cherished Doctors, Banks Carroll, Manoj Patel, Hunter Champion, Kurt Jacobson, and Vincent Naman for the tender loving care rendered through the recent years and their ongoing prayers. Thank you to her former pastor, Brad Hicks, who was her esteemed friend during his many years of service at our church and for his prayers.

Thanks also to the dedicated care givers at Columbus Hospice, Dialysis Clinic, Inc. and EMS ambulance drivers. She dearly loved you all!

Should you wish to honor her memory and her generous spirit, donations may be made to the Wynnbrook Baptist Church, Columbus Hospice, or the American Kidney Foundation.

“For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. “ Romans 10:10 NIV

On-line condolences may be offered at www.shcolumbus.com.