Martha Jean Shackelford, 85, died June 5, 2015, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle in Columbus, Mississippi. Visitation will be held 12-2 pm Tuesday, June 9, at Memorial Funeral Home, and the funeral service will take place at 2 pm with Reverend Shawn Parker officiating. Burial will follow at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Columbus. Pallbearers will be Mark Turner, Jack Ellis Speed, Jr., Stephen Shackelford, Jr., Johnny Crimm, Eddie Godfrey, and Greg Noland. Mrs. Shackelford was born on November 26, 1929, to the late Thomas Hardy and Emma Ione Jones. A lifelong Columbus resident, she was a telephone operator at the Southern Bell Telephone Company for 30 years, retiring in 1982. She remained active with the Columbus Club Pioneers in her retirement. She participated in George Shalles's Sunday School class at First Baptist Church in Columbus, where was a devoted member until her death. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Troy Lee Shackelford. She is survived by her son, Stephen Lee Shackelford, of Jackson, Mississippi; her sisters, Sue Shelton of Columbus, Mississippi, and Betty Conn, of Ethelsville, Alabama; and grandchildren, Stephen Lee Shackelford, Jr. of Trumbull, Connecticut; Lizzy Shackelford of Washington, DC; Signe Shackelford of Crystal Springs, Mississippi; and Hilary Shackelford of Washington, DC. She leaves behind five great-grandchildren: Matthew, Katharine, Dylan, and Julianna Shackelford and Liza Jane Dignan, and many nieces, nephews and other loved family members. Martha was an avid traveler who enjoyed visits with her friends and family to locales as far flung as Hawaii and Paris. Always ready to engage in lively conversation, she never met a stranger. Martha, a loving wife, mother, sister, Mema, aunt, and friend, will be remembered for her wit and her generosity.
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