Erma Lou Bowen McAllister, 93, of Tifton passed away Tuesday, September 9, 2003, at Beverly Health Care in Tifton. Her funeral service was held at 4:00 p.m. Friday, September 12, 2003, at Liberty Baptist Church in Tifton with the Rev. Gerald Purvis, the Rev. Glenn Ford, the Rev. Michael Petty and the Rev. Steve Hughes officiating. Mrs. McAllister was laid to rest at Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery in Tifton.
Mickey Ford, Chad Morris, Roger White, Lyn Yarbrough, Jerry McAllister, Jim McAllister, Pete McAllister and David Stinson served as pallbearers.
Born January 22, 1910, in Tift County, Mrs. McAllister was the daughter of the late Eldridge Pickett Bowen and Rachel Esther Simmons Bowen. She was also preceded in death by her husband, James Cauley McAllister, who passed away in 1965; two sons, James Otis McAllister and John Henry McAllister; one daughter, Erma Jean Yarbrough; two brothers; four sisters; and several nieces and nephews. She was a homemaker; and she was a member of Liberty Baptist Church in Tifton. She was a loving mother and grandmother; and she had lived in Tift County her entire life.
Mrs. McAllister is survived by two sons, Carl Franklin McAllister and Samuel Myers McAllister, both of Tifton; three daughters, Frances Marie McBrayer and Mary Lee Ford, both of Tifton and Betty Sue Rainey of Ideal; two brothers, Gordon Bowen of Alabama and Grady Bowen of Bainbridge; one sister, Christine Layne of Greensboro, North Carolina; 31 grandchildren; 55 great-grandchildren; and 20 great-great grandchildren.