Margaret P. Glenn

Margaret Perry Glenn died Sunday, August 14, 2016 at home near Euharlee, GA, in Bartow County, just 11 weeks short of her 101st birthday. She had lived more than sixty years on Maxwell Avenue near the historic Marietta Square. Her nine children – seven of her deceased husband, John Harold Fricks, Sr., and two of her deceased husband William Royal Glenn, Sr., were raised on Maxwell Avenue and graduated from Marietta High School. Margaret lived a very long, fulfilling life. Born in 1915 on a farm near Easley, SC., Margaret Sylvia Perry was the tenth of the thirteen children of Olive “Dunk” Berry Perry and Robert Lee Perry, Sr. Throughout Margaret’s childhood, there was no electricity and no running water, but there was a great abundance of love, sharing, learning, flowers, and hard work. Also, there was music at Mama Dunk’s house. Margaret’s oldest daughter, Rebecca, later wrote her own memory: “Christmas carols filled the room and spilled out. Just the way that Mama Dunk's pear preserves stuck to her biscuits, I think the sound of that music must still cling to the old walls. I can still hear the voices blending, the violins, the organ and piano cheering them on. The Perry music was, and still is, my bench mark for true music.” After high school, Margaret spent a year in Tiger, GA, caring for the children of her oldest sister, Ruth. Ruth was married to Rev. Burns Gibbs, a young Presbyterian minister responsible for five Rabun County churches. It would have been improper for Rev. Gibbs to visit homes without an accompanying adult female, so Margaret made it possible for Ruth and Burns to make ministerial visits together. While living in Tiger, Margaret fell in love with a young automobile mechanic, Harold Fricks, who cared for Rev. Gibbs’ car and drove Sunday school teachers around to the five churches. Harold continued to court Margaret after she entered Maryville College. They married in Tiger in 1935. In 1942, with three daughters and one son, the family moved to Marietta so Harold could maintain vehicles for managers of the Bell Aircraft Company. After the war, in 1947, Harold Fricks died from burns suffered during a fire at his automobile repair garage near Highway 41 in Marietta, leaving Margaret with by then seven children to support and raise. She entered the work force and spent many years at Lockheed Aircraft in Marietta. Her children remember difficulties during those years, but also many blessings. There were picnics at Sope Creek, evenings on the front porch looking at stars, vacations and holidays with Mama Fricks, Mama Dunk, Aunt Agnes, Uncle Vernon, and other very loving relatives. In 1954, Margaret married William Royal Glenn, a Lockheed employee and a shop steward for the International Association of Machinists. They added two children to the family. William Glenn died in 1967. As her youngest children reached school age, Margaret’s older children were departing for college, for work, and to start their own families. She worked very hard to assist all who chose to enter college. Also, she traveled coast-to-coast visiting her children and other relatives. In the back of her large car, she often carried her Mixmaster, a large tin of flour, and several dozen eggs. Her large pound cakes used a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Friends and family alike tell their early memories of Margaret’s German chocolate cakes. She became an avid fan of the Atlanta Braves. Despite the fact that Margaret’s mother was a faithful member of Georges Creek Baptist Church close to the Perry farm, Margaret herself was a life-long Presbyterian. She and her siblings would follow her father – single file – to the nearby Presbyterian congregation he helped start in the early 1900’s. In the 1940’s, Margaret and husband Harold helped start the Parkview Presbyterian Church in Marietta. Years later, Margaret helped start the Hope Presbyterian Church in Marietta. During the final years of her life, Margaret’s son Dwight, and his wife Debbie, relinquished their first-floor bedroom so that Margaret could live with family. Her church family grew to include Dwight’s congregation. Members of both Euharlee Baptist Church and Hope Presbyterian Church became frequent visitors, care givers, and prayer givers. Her family is very grateful for those gifts, and also for the long term personal service of care givers, Nancy Keaton and Lena Saffa. In addition to her husbands, Margaret was predeceased by son Robert Lee Fricks, by her parents, and by eleven siblings. She is survived by her sister Elvira Perry Ross of Easley, SC, by children Rebecca F. Brooks, Peggy Allen, Lynn Rogers, John Harold Fricks, Jr., Carol F. Wessman, Nancy Elaine Eichelberger, William Royal Glenn, Jr., and Dwight Perry Glenn. There are 17 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild living in nine different states. A Funeral Service will be held at 2:00 PM Wednesday, August 24 at Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home Historic Chapel in Marietta with Rev. Martin Hawley officiating. There will be a private burial in Mountain View Cemetery. The family will receive visitors on Tuesday, August 23, between 5:00 and 7:00 PM at the funeral home in Marietta. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hope Presbyterian Church, 4101 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta, GA 30066, www.hopepca.org; to Reformation Hope, 12195 Hwy 92, Suite 114-317, Woodstock, GA 30188, www.reformationhope.org; or to the charity of your choice. www.mayeswarddobbins.com Telephone 770-428-1511

Margaret P. Glenn

October 28, 1915 - August 14, 2016