Martha Ann Giordano (n´ee Taylor), age 97, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family in Louisville, Tennessee, on Thursday, May 19, 2022. Martha was born on July 4, 1924, in the small town of Milan, Telfair County, Georgia, to John C. and Mattie Taylor. Following her mother’s death when Martha was an infant, she went to live in the nearby town of McRae, Georgia, where her Great Aunt and Uncle, Ella and Nollie Brannen, raised her as their own. She worked from a very early age picking cotton and harvesting various crops alongside her sharecropper guardians, often instead of school attendance. Then, in her late teens she struck out on her own and moved to Savannah to work in the shipyards and as a civilian driver for the Department of the Army during World War Two. It was there that she met the love of her life, Anthony J. Giordano of Buffalo, New York. Tony was a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps stationed at Camp Stewart, just outside of Savannah. Tony and Martha eloped and were married in Ridgeland, South Carolina on January 5, 1944. After the War they moved for a brief time to Athens, Georgia, before moving to Buffalo, New York where they lived and worked for many years while raising their two children. During this period Martha worked at a variety of jobs but principally as a licensed cosmetologist and for the Buffalo Public Schools. In 1976, after Tony’s retirement, they returned South to Fitzgerald, Georgia, where Martha owned and operated an independent beauty salon. After Tony’s death in 1984, Martha moved a final time to Knoxville, Tennessee, to be near her children and their families. Thereafter, Martha lived proudly and independently in her own home from 1986 until just five months before her death.
Martha was preceded in death by her beloved husband of over 40 years, Tony, as well as two brothers, John T. Taylor (“JT”) and Harvey Taylor, three half-brothers, John C. Taylor (“Jr.”), Johnny Ray Taylor and Curtis (“Butch”) Taylor, and by two half-sisters, Linda Faye Taylor and Myrtice Howell Bussell (Eldridge, deceased). She is survived by her remaining half-brother, William Taylor. In addition, Martha is survived by her son, Lawrence Francis Giordano (Kristie), and by her daughter, Deborah Margaret Marzan (Dennis, deceased). Also surviving are her five beloved grandchildren Melanie Christine Goan (Thomas), Tiffany Lorin Hicks (David), Bradley Thomas Giordano (Patricia), Evan Taylor Giordano (Stephanie) and Britany Ann Barnett, all of whom were gathered with her while she was passing. She also leaves six special great-grandchildren – lovingly referred to as her “babies” —Sean Harrison Moyers, Jackson Thomas Giordano, Silas Kade Goan, Olivia Marie Giordano, Frances Madeline Giordano and the youngest, August Anthony Giordano.
As she planned and directed, her remains will return to Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia to be reunited for burial next to her beloved husband, Tony, in the Taylor Family plot in Evergreen Cemetery. A Celebration of Life and receiving of friends will be scheduled and held at a later date in Knoxville. In lieu of flowers the family asks that you spread the spirit of Martha’s well-lived life by contributing to a charity of your choice in her name or to either the American Heart Association or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Arrangements for her interment will be handled by Paulk Funeral Home of Fitzgerald, Georgia. Finally, Martha’s family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the staff at Life Care Center of Blount County for their kind and loving care during Martha’s final days.