Mrs. Margaret Geraldine Reed Porter Johnson Meacham

Mrs. Margaret Geraldine Reed Porter Johnson Meacham was born October 27, 1930, in Lake Worth, Florida, the youngest and last surviving child of Bedford County native Thomas Olique Reed and Iva Belle Brown Reed. Margaret was afflicted with polio as a child, but was not crippled by the disease, and she lost her beloved Papa at eight years of age. She began her working career at Musgrave’s Pencil Mill at age 14 and worked as a cashier for many years beginning at a still youthful Kroger Company in Cincinnati in 1953. In Shelbyville, she worked for James and Dorothy Dennis at their IGA store for several years, eventually taking a position at Jostens of the South, where she was employed when in 1979 she was diagnosed with crippling rheumatoid arthritis. Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, she crafted and sold stuffed animals and dolls and was an excellent seamstress. She spent a great deal of time with senior citizens of Bedford County and was a proud member of the Donelson based Parents of Twins and Triplets Organization (POTATO) through her twin grandsons, Jared and Josh Porter. She was a member of the Flat Creek Baptist Church where for many years she coordinated gospel singings. Her great-great grandfather, primitive Baptist minister Robert “Robin” Reed, preached there in the 1850’s and 1860’s. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a loving step-father, George “Boots” Hill, husbands Albert Franklin Porter, Albert Virgil Johnson, and Hiram Milton Meacham; sisters Lillian Frances Hattaway (Tully), Dessie Virginia Clay (Paul), Iva Christine Brown (James), Mildred Louise Fuller (Roscoe), Catherine Marie Frazier (Eldridge), and Mary Jane Sudberry (Houston); brothers Carl Enoch Reed (Irene) , Hugh Guy Reed (Alice) (Nellie), Thomas Raymond Reed (Christine), William Lewis Reed (Ruth), and Lonnie Crawford Reed( whose widow Margareta still survives), and one great-granddaughter Korley Elizabeth Davis. Margaret is survived by her son, Donnie Franklin Porter (Pasty), of Ledford Mill, step-sons Richard Milton “Ricky” Meacham (Debbie), of Murfreesboro, Jimmy Wayne Meacham (Cindy), of Chapel Hill; grandchildren Rebecca Kay “Becky” Davis (Donald), Jason Thomas Porter (Chasity), Jared Devlin Porter, and Joshua Franklin Porter; great-grandchildren Kaitlin Brooke and Khloe Blaire Davis, Dawson Lane, Kaylee Grace, Sidney Reese, and Houston Thomas Porter, Mathew, Jesse, Justin, Kimberly, and Will Meacham, Ashley Neill Justin “Bubba” Russell; special cousin Mary Ella Brown Carpenter (Donald) and a multitude of nieces and nephews. Additionally, she never forgot her childhood friend, Wanda Holt Hyatt. Funeral services will be 1 PM Sunday, November 9, 2014, at Feldhaus Memorial chapel. Reverends Buck Frazier and Jason Porter will officiate, with burial to follow in Willow Mount Cemetery. The family will receive visitors 3-7 PM Saturday at Feldhaus Memorial Chapel. Feldhaus Memorial Chapel is assisting the family with the arrangements.

Mrs. Margaret Geraldine Reed Porter Johnson Meacham

October 27, 1930 - November 6, 2014