On June 12, 2021, our dear Mother, Mary Magdalene Norris Gambill, stepped into eternity to finally be with her Jesus. She was born on July 24, 1925, to Mort Mandel Norris and Ethel Welsh Norris in Carbon Hill, Alabama. She was the last remaining of 10 siblings. She was preceded in death by her devoted husband, Charles Houston Gambill of Booneville, Mississippi (April 9, 1927- Feb 20, 1975.)
She leaves behind her children Mary Martha Olszewski (Jerry), Nancy Renata Allen (Tony), Kathy Goss (Vernon), and Lewis Charles Gambill (Dawn). She is also survived by her 7 much-loved grandchildren and 7 precious great-grandchildren.
Mama held many interesting jobs including working at an airplane parts manufacturing plant during WW2 in California, working with PTSD veterans in Long Island, New York, and working as a hostess at North Park Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. However, her most important job was to care for her husband and four children. This she excelled at, and, for that, we children were blessed beyond measure.
Mama enjoyed traveling and seeing God’s handiwork in nature wherever she went. She especially loved the mountains. She spent many years raising her family in Chicago, Illinois, but always preferred the open spaces of Northeast Mississippi-especially the family land in Booneville.
After Hurricane Katrina forced Mama from her residence at Seashore Methodist Retirement Home in Biloxi, Mississippi in 2005, she relocated to Traceway Manor in Tupelo, Mississippi. Here she met many new friends and enjoyed the closeness to family in Booneville.
Our Mama was the family prayer warrior who often spent many hours on her knees even at her advanced age praying for her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends, or even strangers in need.
Mama cared very deeply about one thing - “Do you know my Jesus?” She would ask this of friends, family, and someone she had just met. She cared about the Eternal. She lived her life clinging to God’s promises, reading through His Word more times than she could remember, trusting Him in the trials of life, thanking Him always, finding joy everyday in the little things, being content in all things, and loving unconditionally. Her very last advice she gave to her grandchildren was “Just Live for Jesus.” And she did.
A Celebration of Life Graveside Service will be at 2:00 P.M. Thursday, June 17, 2021 at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Meadow Creek, MS, with Rev. James Benton Strange officiating. Services are under the direction of McMillan Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 12:00 P.M. until 1:30 P.M. Thursday at the funeral home.
Pallbearers will be Eric Allen, Jerry Olszewski, Lane Goss, Luke Goss, Mason Goss, and Matthew Olszewski.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider donating to a family in need, providing a meal for the hungry, buying a new outfit for someone without, or spending an hour (or two) on your knees in prayer for your family. That’s what our Mama would do.
