Mary "Frances" Waller

Mary Frances Waller, 81, of Kennesaw was called home to be with the LORD on Sunday, March 27th, 2022. Frances was born at home on a Friday, July 5th, 1940 on Wolfe Street in Cohutta, Georgia. She is the daughter of the late Ethel Oliver Rogers and Lloyd Rogers.

Frances grew up in Cohutta attending Whitfield County public schools, living on the family farm with her little sister Virginia and her cousin Sammy at Hopewell, and later helping her Mother in the family store next to their home on Wolfe Street. Frances gave her life to Christ as a teenager and was baptized at the Cohutta Fish Hatchery. Her faith and the love that accompanied it permeated every aspect of her person and her treatment of others for the entirety of her earthly life.

Frances left Cohutta to attend Berry College in Floyd County where she met her husband-to-be Jerry Lee Waller. They married on August 26, 1961 at the start of their senior year and spent the next 45+ years together until his passing on September 13th, 2006. In their over four decades together, they raised six kids of their own, cared for other children in the family from time to time, and sought to do the right thing with little thought for themselves.

Following their graduation from Berry College in May 1962, Frances and Jerry first settled and began their family in Floyd County when they welcomed their first child in August 1962. Frances started her teaching career as an elementary school teacher. They moved to Lakewood Drive in Kennesaw in 1966, and

Frances taught at Lockheed Elementary and later at Marietta Christian School until the birth of her sixth and final child in June 1982. In addition to teaching school, Frances also worked for the 1970 Census, the Marietta Daily Journal, and at a nursing home caring for residents. She also served as a beloved Sunday School teacher at her Church, Gospel Light Baptist Tabernacle.

Frances loved being a teacher and had an impact on the lives of countless young people including her six children, the children in her classroom, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and so many others. She always brightened up and was energized around young children ready to play games with them and always seeking to teach them something new. Teaching was a part of her being, a calling to her from God and through which, she leaves a little legacy in every life (young and old) she touched.

Frances enjoyed music, history, and politics. She had a sense of humor with a wit that could keep everyone laughing—including some pranks in her younger days. She had great artistic talent and a love of drawing and writing—leaving behind volumes of her talent.

She loved the LORD above all and lived a life that exemplified this fact. She loved her family and devoted her life and interests to them from the ball fields at Adams Park to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. and even to the gold mines of Fairbanks, Alaska. She loved to meet new people and to learn about them—always sharing stories about her family and friends (new and old). She made friends everywhere she went.

Frances made a difference in the 81 years, 8 months, and 22 days during which God loaned her to this world. He has now restored her in a blessed reunion with many who have awaited her arrival.

Frances is survived by her sister Virginia Thurman of Cohutta; her children: Jerry Jr. (Terrie) Waller of Taylorsville, Jeff (Jodi) Waller of Marietta, John Waller of Kennesaw, Jennifer Gilbert of Marietta, Jason Waller of Fairbanks, AK, and Joshua Waller of Kennesaw; her fourteen grandchildren; her six great grandchildren; her sister-in-laws Mary Fields of Kennesaw and Jean Waller of Dallas, her brother-in-law Johnny (Becky) Waller of Rome; her numerous (great) nieces, (great) nephews, and cousins; and many beloved family friends.

A visitation for Mrs. Waller will be held Saturday, April 2, 2022 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Winkenhofer Pine Ridge Funeral Home, 2950 North Cobb Pkwy, Kennesaw, Georgia 30152. She will lie in state on Sunday, April 3, 2022 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Kennesaw First Baptist Church, 2958 N. Main St, Kennesaw, GA. Her funeral service will follow at 3:00 PM at Kennesaw First Baptist Church. Following the service, she will be laid to rest beside her husband and family at Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, Highway 92, Acworth, GA.