Martha Ann Barfield

Martha Ann Barfield, 94, of Hahira, died Saturday, June 10, 2023. Martha Ann was born in Detroit, Michigan on November 13, 1928, to the late Leland Ellis Gordon and Nannie Mae

Davis Gordon Hicks. Her childhood was spent living in Fort Gaines and Perry, Georgia where she enjoyed athletics and graduated from high school. She attended Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia continuing as an athlete while earning her teaching certification. Ann moved to Hahira where she taught at Hahira Elementary School and met her late husband of 59 years, H.M. Barfield, during her daily pedestrian commute from her boarding house to the school.

Ann and H. M. raised three children in Hahira (Kay, Lell, and Mason), supporting them in their athletic, academic, and cultural endeavors. A particularly endearing story of Ann is about dressing her two very young daughters in their Sunday finest for a concert by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Ritz Theater in Valdosta in order that they be exposed to cultural riches not found in the community. In the girls’ recollection, each person they passed while finding their seats stared aghast at her gall.

All three children attended summer camp in North Carolina – Kay and Lell to Camp Greystone and Mason to Windy Wood. Ann joined them in the 60s as a camp counselor and hostess. Ann and H. M., and their faithful corgi, Peach, all returned to Greystone in the 80s taking on a variety of roles and leaving memories that exist today in a mural on the dining room wall and on their “home away from home” while at Greystone – Ann and H. M. Cabin.

In the late 1960’s Ann made a serious commitment to her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For the rest of her life, He was her daily strength and focus. She went on to mentor and disciple many in their Christian walk. Her legacy is her daily ministry to anyone who crossed her path with whom she shared her love, faith, and encouragement.

Ann is survived by three children and their spouses, Kay Lee and Gary Brown of Covington, Lell and Peter Harboe of Flat Rock, NC., Mason and Elizabeth Barfield of Hahira, 11-grandchildren, Lydia and Braxton McMurphy, Duke and Whitney Lee, Martha and Nick Kliossis, Catherine Lee, Leslie and Thomas Petit, Neal Brown and Elijah Murray, Nancy Owings, Ellen-Anne and James Skelton, Josh and Heather Barfield, Ryan and Suzanne Barfield, Jesse and Emily Barfield, and 11 great grandchildren, Rivers and Braxton McMurphy, Hugo Petit, Georgia Kay Kliossis, Harboe, Else, and Finn Skelton, Mason and Kinley Barfield, and Lillian and Davis Barfield.

Visitation for family and friends will be held Wednesday, June 14, 2023 from 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM at the Hahira Depot, 220 West Main Street, Hahira, GA.

The family hopes that any friends who may have a particular story or sentiment they would like to share with them, please consider committing it to paper. It may be left at visitation in a container designated for that purpose, mailed to 621 Hodge Street, Hahira, GA 31632, or emailed to masonbarfield@gmail.com

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Options Now, 214 West Park Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia, 31602, or Fisherman, Inc., P.O. Box 4172, Valdosta, Georgia, 31604.

Martin McLane Funeral Home of Hahira