Sara and Garland Williams
Sara and Garland Williams were married on September 3, 1950, after being introduced to each other by a friend. They were married for 52 wonderful years before his death in 2003.
Garland Williams worked for the Ellis family for 40 years in the construction business. He helped build the chapel and breezeway at Allen Memorial, as well as the Sunday School Building. He worked with Charles Ellis, Elizabeth Ellis’ husband, mostly doing finishing work, cabinets, and woodwork. Garland was a member of the Oxford Lions Club for years and also served many years on the Oxford City Council. Both he and Sara were members of the Manning Sunday school class, and Sara has remained a member. Garland was very nice and was an extremely devoted “family man”.
Garland and Sara have two children, Tim and Cathy. Tim lives next door and Cathy is currently living in Oxford also. Tim is in the trucking business, working for Pittman Trucking as an independent trucker and Cathy has worked for the Newton County Board of Education for over 28 years.
Sara has lived in Newton County all of her life and she has lived in her current house in Oxford for over 61 years. She retired at age 65 from Belk Department Store in Covington after working for 18 full years. Sara gladly volunteers at the Community Food Pantry two days a week. She distributes food to needy families in the local area. Except for her work at Belk, Sara was a homemaker and really enjoyed spending time with her children. She has enjoyed the beauty of potted flowers and planting flowers at her house. She loves to read a good book. She says attending Young at Heart at Allen Memorial, is a lot of fun because she really enjoys seeing everyone and being able to socialize. She enjoys the good food and fellowship.
Sara is most proud of her family and her marriage. She and Garland had a very good, strong and loving relationship for 52 years. She is extremely proud of her two children, four grandchildren, and four great grandchildren and loves them very much. They are her “pride and joy.”
Dot Powell
Dot Powell moved to Newton County in 1974 and in 1985 transferred her letter from Martha Brown Methodist Church in East Atlanta to Allen Memorial. She married Spencer DeFoor in 1954. He retired as a Final Inspector in Quality Control from Ford Motor Company after 26 years. They were married for 28 years before his death in 1982.
Dot remarried in 1993 to Dr. Fincher (Bill) Powell, a cardiologist with Family Practice located in Decatur. Dr. Powell helped start Dekalb Medical Center and at one time was Medical Director there. He attended Allen Memorial UMC, and he and Dot were married for five years before his death in 1998. They were married in the chapel at Allen Memorial by Pastor Amy Morgan. Dot was a Charter member of the Richard Hunter Sunday school class. She is also a member of the Susie B. Stone Circle. In addition, she has been and remains active in Young at Heart.
Dot graduated from UGA with a major in Biology. She worked the entire time from her graduation until she turned 70 years old. She feels privileged to have had the job opportunities she was able to experience. She has loved her work. After graduation she worked for the Dean of the Graduate School at UGA, and later worked for Lawson General Army Hospital doing clinical lab work. Dot also worked for Hines Roberts, a pediatrician in Atlanta, for 15 years. She worked for Georgia Tech twelve years in the experiment station measuring the effects of botulism or food poisoning. In addition, she was sent to Antarctica to study bacteria from cores in the ocean sediment. She was there for three months. Dot retired at the age of 70, after working for over 13 years for Heinz, later called Pet Inc., later called Pillsbury, and eventually called General Mills.
Since suffering a stroke in 2009, Dot has lived in assisted living. Since retiring, Dot has loved to travel, mostly visiting her relatives and friends. She enjoys gardening, especially growing flowers, tomatoes, and azaleas on her 6 acres of land. She loves photography, particularly nature scenes. She has also embroidered a lot and has enjoyed crewel; Dot is very proud of her Tree of Life.
Dot is most proud of her kinfolk and family and of their accomplishments. She loves Dr. Powell’s daughter, Alice Brice, and her family who live in South Carolina. She has nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews and she “just loves them to death.” They are all fine upstanding people. She really misses traveling and hates to be away from everybody. Dot has always been very outgoing and friendly. She has the gift of being able to talk to anybody and make them feel at ease.
Bursons
John and Ruth Burson
John and Ruth married in 1947 and have been married for 64 years. They moved to Oxford from Covington in 1951 to purchase a house and to raise their three children here. They enjoy having their four grandchildren visit here. They met when both were working for Southern Bell; Ruth was secretary to the foreman and John was a lineman.
John served in the army during World War II and landed on Omaha Beach toward the end of the first day of the D-Day invasion. He served in Europe guarding prisoners of war. After serving three years in the military, John worked for Southern Bell for 37 years before retiring in 1982. He worked first as a lineman and then as manager in the Engineering Department. John was a founding member of the Oxford Lions Club and has been very active in the Boy Scouts of America, earning the Silver Beaver Award, the highest award presented to a volunteer, for his service to the scouts. John served two terms on the Oxford City Council and also served two terms on the Newton County Board of Education. He enjoys working at the church as a Restorer and is also Head of the Evangelism Committee. He has served in every office at the church with the exception of Treasurer. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Oxford Historical Cemetery Foundation.
Ruth was a stay-at-home mom and, along with John, was able to raise three wonderful children. Besides working for Southern Bell, Ruth was Church Secretary at Allen Memorial, a substitute teacher, and also was secretary at Newton High School. She taught Sunday school at Allen Memorial and has helped with Vacation Bible School. In addition, she has served as President of the Susie B. Stone Circle and is a member of UMW. Her hobbies have included china painting, needlepoint, and playing the piano. She was a charter member of the Amitie Club and has been active in the Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. She enjoys traveling with John, especially to Florida.
After 28 years in retirement, John and Ruth are very happy. They thank God they are able to be active in the Church at Allen Memorial, enjoy life, and are still in good health.
Sermons
