Elsie G. Putman

Speakers: Glenn Bates, Randy Boyd and Bro. Ronnie Chapman

Singer: Pamela Bates

What a Day

I want to stroll over Heaven with you

I’m going to live forever

Visitation for Mrs. Elsie Putman will be Saturday, January 4th, 2025, from 5 - 7 pm at Chapel Hill Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held Sunday, January 5th, 2025, at 2pm. Burial will follow at Anniston Memorial Gardens. Service will be officiated by Bro. Ronnie Chapman.

Pallbearers: Christian & Jeff Engelbrecht, Vic & Cole McElroy, Randy Boyd, Bradley, Brandon & Glenn Bates

At Visitation, a niece or nephew stands at the head and foot of the casket, changing shifts every hour. The ones doing this are Denise Freeman, Brandon Bates, Cole & Kaycee McElroy

Churches Attended

As a baby to a young child, Trinity Baptist Church in Oxford. Saved at Old Hopewell Baptist Church in Heflin, Cleburne County in 1955. Joined Pine Grove Baptist Church. Then to Grace Baptist Church in Oxford where, on Dec 24, 1964, she married her life companion, Wilburn Putman. She has been a member of Fairview Heights Baptist Church since 1972 where three of her children were baptized by Brother David Vinson. Needing to work her way through school, she came back to Oxford for 11th & 12th grade. She worked as a waitress for Howard Johnson, at the Silver Maple for James Rutledge, & at the Oxford News Stand for Hershall Victory. After graduating from Oxford in 1962, she worked as a cashier for Mason’s Department Store, then to Classe Ribbon Company where she met friends who have helped her to this day through heartache & pain. Losing her daughter, Karen, to Reye's Syndrome when she was just 3 years old, & her daughter, Tanya, to Cancer when she was 16. Her husband, Wilburn, passed away just 2 short years later. She also kept children in after school care, at Trinity Christian Academy.

Always said southern gospel music is better than nerve pills, but thank God for giving doctors the knowledge to discover great medicine. As you were welcomed into her home, you were greeted with a collage of pictures in every room of the house. If you were close to her heart, family or friend, you may find yourself smiling back at you. She could reminisce about her childhood–working the cotton fields, getting up at sunrise, working until the school bus came, getting back home from school, working in the fields until the sunset, then feeding the animals, bringing in the water & repeating it all the next day. She would tell stories about wearing a one of a kind shoe in the fields. She never bought a toothbrush until she was grown, & she had to pick up pencil stubs for her mother to sharpen rather than buy new ones. It was no Little House on the Prairie, & if you thought she had it bad, you should’ve heard how hard her mother had it. During her earthly life, God gave her the joy of having animal companions that were closer to her heart than some family members: a three pound Yorkie named Mitzy, who shared a handicap with her mother as she could only use her front legs; a black five pound Poodle named Bear, who had hip dysplasia in her back legs but would fight a giant to protect her master, always at her mother’s heels, & expected mother to go with her when she had to take care of her health needs; if you passed by her house & it was raining, you probably saw her with an umbrella holding it over Bear, while she would stand in the rain & get drenched. Then to the five pound Yorkie, Tanner, who was the leader in the relationship. His mother was ordered to meet his demand, but his life ended with him showering her with kisses, as he left this world. Christmas Angel, a baby-faced Yorkie came into the world, & while he didn’t mend the broken heart Tanner left, he did sprinkle joy into a broken heart; & finally, her heartfelt companion Tinkerbell, a teacup Chihuahua, who always sat right on her mother’s heart & would always comfort in times of trouble.Mother has sat in God’s waiting room for so many years. Now at last, her name has been called. She can enjoy the reunion with the Trinity, her family, old friends & friends she never met on earth.

Family Precede/Succeeded She is preceded in death by her husband, Wilburn Putman; three of her children Karen Tia-Lisa, Christian Angel, & Tanya Coraleen Putman; her parents Cora Lee Parker Gable & Herman Grover Gable; her sisters Gerelene Gable, Shirley Freeman, & Dorothy Adams; & her sweet babies Mitzi, Bear, & Tanner.

The ones left behind that will see her in the great tomorrow include her children; Tia-Lisa Putman Engelbrecht (Jeff) & Wilburn Keith Putman (Kimberly); her grandchildren Hannah Engelbrecht, Tiara Engelbrecht, Savannah Engelbrecht, & Christian Engelbrecht; Chosen daughters, Denise Freeman, Pamela Bates & Jennifer Elhajj; & her sweet babies Christmas Angel & Tinkerbell.

After having 23 surgeries, she joked that she would be cremated, & her hardware would pay for her funeral.

Mom loved the Red Hat Society, therefore, we're asking our friends and family to wear something Red or Purple if they're able to.