Florence Melissa Free Sanford Shockley, age 88, went to be with the Lord Saturday morning at Partners of Marion.
Born in Birmingham, AL, August 7, 1922, to the late William H. and Dona Etta Free, she grew up in Memphis, TN, and later in life moved to Mtn Home, AR (Bull Shoals Lake area).
The last fourteen years she resided with her daughter and son-in-law in Marion, Ohio and occasionally worshipped at Fite Road Baptist Church with her close friend Gladys Pelfrey, whom she buddied with while skating at the rink in Marion and in bowling leagues the first years while in Marion.
In 1941 in Memphis, TN Florence married Charles Lamar Sanford, deceased. In 1949 she married Carl B. Shockley, former husband for almost 60 years, who survives in Mtn. Home, AR.
She is predeceased by one brother, William (Billy) Free, Memphis, TN, one sister, Dodie Fly, Dalphine Island, MS, one daughter, Barbara Jane Donaldson Sanford Guess, Selmer, TN, one son, Carl Martin (Marty) Shockley (passed shortly after birth), one grandson William Gary Donaldson (age one), and one step-granddaughter Monie Wilson. She is survived by one sister, Virginia Pauline Berry, Millington, TN, two sons and one daughter, Charles Lamar (Carolyn) Sanford, Eads, TN, William Robert (Brenda) Sanford, Bath Springs, TN and Shirley Marie Shockley (Tenney) Fuller, Marion, OH. She is also survived by ten grandchildren, Terri McCord, Tini Kirby, Troy Donaldson, “Junior” Sanford, Cara Headley, Lori Smith, Randy Dean Sanford, Richie Sanford, Robbie Sides and Carl Michael Fuller, as well as fourteen great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
As a young mother, Florence worked at Brese Department store in downtown Memphis, TN and later in life for health care organizations as a sitter in both Selmer and Memphis, TN. She enjoyed working with cotton thread to make fine-crocheted table cloths, bedspreads, baby dresses, and other items, giving them as gifts to family and friends, and also selling them at arts and crafts shows in mostly Arkansas and Tennessee. She had a passion for creating and working in wild-flower gardens, especially to attract hummingbirds, lovingly called “sugarbabies”. She enjoyed bowling for many years and participated in leagues in Memphis and Marion. Over the years, except for the last two, Florence enjoyed sending birthday cards to friends and family and although she never wrote much in the card, she was known to enclose two crisp dollar bills in the cards of each grandchild (great and great-great), until graduation from high school.
A celebration of life service will be held in Tennessee at a later date.
Arrangments are in care of Boyd-Born Funeral Home.
About Marion Online Obituaries
