Annie Garner

Annie Ruth Phillips Northcutt Garner, age 89, of Tuscaloosa, passed away quietly Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in the loving care of her daughters. For the past seven years, she had been cared for by her daughters as she declined in health. Her daughters, Betty, Marilyn, Carolyn, and Pat, remember her as a strong, vibrant mother who cared deeply for them as she worked along with their father to put them all through college. She is surely the only mother who can boast of having three daughters tapped into Mortar Board, a senior honor society at the University of Alabama. Her daughters thank her for being present as a Girl Scout leader and a chaperone at their field trips at Alberta Elementary and Teen Night dances at the former Alberta Junior High. She was a talented artist and will be remembered by the citizens of Alberta City as the lady who, along with her mother, created beautiful plaster craft items and sold them from their home business. She graduated from Gordo High School. At age 19, she met and later married William Edward Northcutt while both worked at Gulf States Paper Corporation. They were camping and fishing companions at their Lock 5 camp house in Greensboro for 30 years. She faithfully cared for him during his battle with cancer. Edward died in 1973. Fourteen years later, she married J.W. Garner and continued her love of traveling, camping, fishing, and selling her painted wood craft items at Tannehill State Park. He preceded her in death in 2005. He is survived by his sons, Danny Garner (Carolyn) and Donald Garner (Bonita). She was a member of Circlewood Baptist Church, where she was a member of the Ruth Sunday School Class and adopted by the Fishers of Men Sunday School Class. Her great joy was attending choir practice on Wednesday nights. She was preceded in death by her parents, Horace Greely and Mary Lou Kerr Phillips, originally from Carrollton and Reform, Ala. The family moved to Tuscaloosa, where her father worked. She was also preceded in death by her sister, Dorothy Marie Swindle of Cottondale; and her brother, Horace Greely Phillips, Jr. of Fort Worth, Texas. She is survived by two sisters, Martha Higdon of Pensacola, Fla. and Betty Jean Abston of Eastonton, Ga.; and four daughters, Betty Northcutt Patterson and husband, Winton of Tuscaloosa, Marilyn Northcutt Henry and husband, Earl of Nashville, Tenn., Dr. Carolyn Northcutt Gibson of Baton Rouge, La., and Pat Northcutt Stephens and husband, Lackey of Tuscaloosa. Mama Ruth, or Roo-Roo, had eight grandchildren and a step-grandson: Donna Cicero (Andy), Paul Patterson (Katie), Mark Patterson (Jodie), Ann Brinkmann (Tim), Ben Gibson (Linda), Jacob Gibson, Emily Gibson and Amos Gibson, and William Lackey "Steve"� Stephens, Jr. (Stephanie). The daughters wish to thank the doctors and staff at Merrill Gardens Assisted Living and Hunter Creek Health and Rehabilitation for their special care of our mother over the past three years. Loving gratitude is extended to her special caregivers, Linda Ragsdale, Teresa Crummie, Geneva Wedgeworth, Thelma Gray, Lois Hartley, Dr. Mark Woods, and Dr. Bony Barrineau. Honorary pallbearers will be Circlewood Baptist Church Ruth Sunday School Class and Fishers of Men Sunday School Class, Celebration Choir, Hunter Creek Health and Rehabilitation Nursing Staff, Southern Care Hospice, Dr. John Brandon and staff of the Family Practice Center in Gordo, Ala., and Lou Fisher. Graveside services will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011, at Tuscaloosa Memorial Park with Dr. Herbert T. Thomas officiating and Magnolia Chapel Funeral Home South directing. She will be buried next to her husband, Edward Northcutt, and her parents. Visitation with the family will be tonight, Nov. 14, 2011, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Serving as active pallbearers will be her grandchildren, Paul Patterson, Mark Patterson, Ben Gibson, Jacob Gibson, Amos Gibson, Steve Stephens, Ann Brinkmann, Donna Cicero, and Emily Gibson. Memorials may be sent to the music ministry of Circlewood Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, Ala., or to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in honor of Ann Brinkmann. Condolences may be offered at www.magnoliachapelf@aol.com.