Bessie Mae Pritchard

Bessie Mae Montgomery Pritchard, 88. Heaven is a little better place today. Bessie Mae Montgomery Pritchard went home on Sunday to be reunited with her husband, Jim-whose company she had been deprived of for so many years... years during which she took on the monumental task of raising their children all alone. She saw it not as a task, but a labor of love, one in which she excelled beyond description and without compare. Mama was born to John and Elizabeth Montgomery in Ripley, MS on April 22, 1924, the thirteenth of thirteen children. Obviously they were running short on names at that point. She worked in Detroit during the war as a riviter in an airplane factory. Simultaneously, but unbeknownst to her, her future husband was in the South Pacific where he survived the assault on Iwo Jima. As fate would have it, they eventually met and married in Memphis. She leaves behind five now lonely but eternally grateful children, who cannot put into words what she meant to them. When Daddy died in l964, she grabbed the reins and took over. Her perseverance and indomitable spirit led her as she made the transition from the consummate housewife to the work world out of necessity. So to a woman imbued with impeccable character and endless love and compassion, her children, Bobby, Jimmy, Johnny, Curtis, and Liz and her beloved grandchildren and great-grandchildren say goodbye...and thanks....The family will receive friends Wednesday, May 30, from 7-9:20 p.m. at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, Poplar Avenue. The service will be at Noon on Thursday, May 31, at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to AGAPE Children and Family Services or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital . Memphis Funeral Home And Memorial Gardens 5599 Poplar Ave. (901)725-0100