Zelda Mae Sandiford Spicer, 93, of Irwin County, Georgia died Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at Dorminy Medical Center in Fitzgerald, Georgia.
Graveside services will be held at 4 P.M., Friday, August 28, 2020 at Springhill Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery with Elder Edward McIntyre, Elder Chad O’Quinn, and Elder Ray Roberts officiating. A eulogy will be given by Charlie Gray, and interment will follow.
Mrs. Spicer was born on May 7, 1927 in Irwin County, Georgia to the late Thomas Phillip Sandiford and Athie Wynn Sandiford and was the youngest of ten surviving children. The family resided in the Pinetta community. She was married to her husband Virgil Spicer for 67 years, and they had one son, Allen Spicer. Her grandchildren called her Mammy. She lived in Irwin County most of her life, except for a few years when she and her husband lived in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. When they returned to Georgia, they lived in the Irwinville community.
Mrs. Spicer worked at Hybernia’s, a popular dress shop in Ocilla, for several years, before becoming a bookkeeper at Wynn Electric in Fitzgerald where she was employed until she retired. She was a conscientious homemaker and enjoyed entertaining family and friends in her home. She was a very talented cook, and no one ever left her table hungry. She was well known for her Southern style meals, delicious buttermilk biscuits, and a wide variety of mouthwatering desserts. She was already making plans to bake her fruitcake cookies and Million Dollar cookies to share at Christmas, and she looked forward to hosting gatherings for her nieces and nephews each year in October.
She enjoyed gardening, canning and preserving, and sharing her bountiful harvest with others. She liked traveling, listening to polka music, and she loved cats. In fact, when she became a resident at the Harris House in Fitzgerald, she wanted to make sure all the neighborhood cats were fed.
Mrs. Spicer was a good friend to the other residents at the Harris House, and she was generous with her time and attention. She liked to surprise them with special treats and occasionally gifts of food, such as dressing from Holt’s or fried chicken from KFC. She enjoyed visits from family and friends, and she always looked forward to the phone calls from her grandchildren who lived in other states. She was very proud of her family.
She was a member of Pinetta Baptist Church.
Mrs. Spicer is survived her grandson: Brian Spicer of Hilton Head, South Carolina; granddaughter: Ava (Tim) Montgomery of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; great-grandsons: Tyler Montgomery and Paul (Elizabeth) Montgomery of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; daughter-in-law: Linda (Charlie) Gray of Hilton Head, South Carolina; sister-in-law: Betty (Edward) McIntyre of Irwinville, Georgia; special caregiver/niece: Susan (Gene) Paulk of Ocilla; as well as many other nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband: Virgil; son: Allen Spicer; an infant grandson: Brent Spicer; five brothers: Jack Sandiford, Aden Sandiford, Warren Sandiford, Pratt Sandiford, and Thomas Sandiford; and five sisters : Thelma Sandiford Pate, Clyde Sandiford Stone, Nannie Sandiford McFarland, Edna Sandiford Underwood, and Tinny Sandiford, who died in infancy.