Name: Radney Funeral Home - Mobile
Address: Mobile, AL

When I was in the 8th grade I was given an assignment in school, to interview someone and write a biography on them.  So I decided I wanted to write it on Mammaw. So I went to her house and asked her if I could interview her.  She said yes, and she was very happy about it, so I told her I would come back the next day to do the interview.  When I came back to her house the next day, she had already wrote the paper and said I could just turn it in, it was done!  It worked for me, it was an easy "A" but i did translate it into my own handwriting because her handwriting was a bit fancy.  But I wanted to share with all of you what she wrote about herself in her exact words. 

My Great Grandmother
Mrs. Frances Pearl (Michael) Roney

Born June 11, 1917.  She is 83 years old now.  She is still driving a car and gets around pretty good.  My great grandmother has had a very interesting life.  She started out dancing when she was about 6 years old.  She won many awards.  She christened the Sanger Theater around the year 1927; she then danced on the stage there on opening day.  She danced on the Bay Queen boat.  Later she danced at various places in Dallas, Texas.  She also modeled clothes in Dallas at a big department store.  She also danced at the old Lyric Theatre in Mobile, also danced in Pensacola,Florida at various places.  When Mobile remodeled the old Sanger in the years of the 90's, she was introduced at the theatre on opening day, by John Tyson Jr. D.A. to the audience.

She lived through the depression years, which was hard on everyone then.  She would tell us that her mother would make biscuits every morning, with peanut butter on them for her lunch everyday and washed them down with water from the water fountain at Murphy High School to keep from choking.  Her mother gave her money for street car fair and she would walk to school so she could buy her a Milky Way candy bar which had just come out.  Her daddy would give her and her brothers and sisters  (there were 6 of them) ten cents on Saturday to go to the movies.  That was 5 cents for the movie and 5 cents for popcorn.  They would sit all day looking at the same show.  She loved school very much; she also danced there in a Spanish play which was shown several times, also shown at McGill School for the Spanish club of Mobile.  She was offered to go to Hollywood, but her parents said no.  She graduated from Murphy in 1953.  She would tell us about Mrs.Mae Eans, the assistant principal.  Mrs. Mae Eans loved football.  She had a slogan she used to say "It's not if you win or lose but how you played the game."  Everytime they had a reunion,she always went to it, so she could see her old friends.

She then married my great grandfather. They had one son, who was a great musician, Leo Roney.  My great grandmother now has 6 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren, and 2 great great grandchildren.  (Which there are so many more now) She loves all of us very much.

We all love her also, especially on birthdays, Easter, and Christmas.  We all meet over at her house.  She always cooked us good food on holidays.

So that was my Mammaw's life from her point of view.  From when this was written when she was 83, to now that she is 94 so many more memmories have been made.

Mammaw has always been a great part of our lives; we all have wonderful memmories with her that will live on in our hearts forever.  She loved each and every one of us and we will always love her very much.

What an awesome lady she was.  I am happy to have known her and do know that she was a treasure to her family.  Knowing there is another angel in heaven is a wonderful thought and that she will have her greatgrandson back in her arms again is a wonderful thought!  God Bless her wonderful family and may her legacy remail with you all forever!

Frances Pearl Roney 

Some people call Frances Pearl Roney by her name, many called her grandma Frankie, others called her mam-ma Frankie, or if you were like me, you simply addressed her as mam-ma. Whatever you preferred to call her, we can all agree that she was a very special lady who never met a stranger. She opened up her arms to anyone who needed a hug and insisted that you took anything you wanted from her, from cookies to candy, to money as well. That was how amazing mam-ma was; she would literally give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. Of course, she would follow up with a statement in how beautiful your wardrobe was for the day and tell you to take it off and give it to her instead. It never mattered how dressed down you were, she always told you how much more beautiful you got each day. 

Let me tell you, mam-ma never got too old to protect each and every one of us either. On several occasions I took my boyfriend Tanner to visit her with me and she always made it a point to give him a little hell. She would say “You better be good to her or….shake her fist.” She never said exactly what she was going to do if he screwed up, but he always knew she meant business.

Mam-ma’s house was definitely the place to go when we were all growing up, especially when you were grounded. So needless to say I was over there at least four times a week or until my mom forgot my punishment. There was no such thing as restrictions, timeouts, or spankings at mam-ma’s house. Only breakfast at McDonalds followed with a couple hours of playtime in the McDonald’s playhouse, spaghetti O’s and swimming at grandma Jane’s house for lunch, and pizza hut and cartoons for dinner. I promise you I got tired playing and swimming before she got tired watching us.

Mam-ma also loved to dance. We would watch the Junior Miss Pageant every year together, and it never failed that after the talent competition was over, she would say “I can dance better than them, want to see?” She would prove her great dancing capabilities by getting up and dancing with me. She helped me fall in love with dance because she taught me everything she knew.

There was only one more thing she loved almost as much as her family and dance, and that was her obsession for chicken. I remember a time that mom, mam-ma, and I stopped at KFC while traveling to New Jersey. Turned out we had gotten there right before closing and they gave us all the chicken they had left. There was no way the three of us could eat all that chicken and mam-ma was convinced that there was no way we were going to leave without it either. Even though we still had several hours of travel time and no ice chest to store it in, she still wanted it. So as my mom tried to pry the chicken out of hands to dispose of, she started shoving the chicken down her shirt.

I have to be honest; her great grandkids had a tendency to be a little devious towards her. On so many occasions when all of us were staying at her house together and she went to bed, we would sneak in her room, tickle her feet and then quickly run away. After doing this about three times, she would get so frustrated and get out of bed, but by the time she made it back to the living room, we had already covered up pretending to be asleep. She would have the most baffled look on her face that looked like, “Did this really just happen and if it did how can I prove it?” Our mischievousness did not end there however. Mam-ma had one rule; do not interrupt her Atlanta Braves game. When you tell this to a great grandchild however, we did just the opposite. I think that was the only time her face would turn red with frustration and she would threaten to put a bag of switches to me.

Aunt Angela said that the grandchildren had their own version of mischievousness as well. When they were kids they would go out of their way to find a bucket of roly-poly’s to put on the front door step for the intention for her to come out there and step on because they knew how much she hated it. She hated stepping on them so much, she would scream. Andrea told me several stories in how she would buy a yard of material to make everyone the same outfit before there were malls and anytime they went anywhere she would pin their name and address on their clothing. She would line them up like ducks anywhere they went, and took a city bus everywhere they wanted to go.

I know everyone in the Mobile area knew that mam-ma was a horrible driver. She would have a blue pillow behind her back and sitting on another so she could see over the steering wheel and be even closer to that steering wheel. When she quit driving, I got her little blue car. By the time I got that little blue car, it had many different colors of yellow, red, and white from where she had hit the caution poles at the gas stations and schools so many times. 

These are just a few of many wonderful memories I have of this wonderful lady. She never complained about anything, she was just happy to spend time with her loved ones. I am going to miss all the times I had to thread her needle when she was sewing what was in style, I am going to miss the fudge that took her days to make and 30 minutes to devour, but most of all I am going to miss her. We were not rich by any means, but we never went without and our richness came from having her in our lives. This birthday, she got something better than 100 boyfriends put together, she got to be with the love of her life.

I will always love you a whole nickels’ worth and miss you even more, but I know you are finally the angel you are and happy keeping our men straight up there.

My sincere sympathy Andrea!!  Cindy McLeod Elam

Mam-ma, I will love and miss you forever. We had a lot of great times, dancing, shopping, and eating! However, I know that you are happy with your other loved ones that have already passed on. I will see you one day, but until then, you will remain in my heart forever. You truly were a special woman that cannot be replaced. I LOVE YOU!

Grandma, you were always the one to keep us straight and to guide us in our early years. From the Atlanta Braves games to the trips to McDonalds our time was always remembered with you. Even though he can't be here Michael sends all of his love and dreams to you in his prayers. I know you are looking down on us now, helping us to be strong but you are truely missed. There was so much history to be learned by you that was lived by you. But now I know that we can look up on a beautiful sky and smile because your watching us. I will keep you close in my heart and always in my thoughts. I love you and will miss you.

Grandma Frankie, I will miss that funny laugh of yours that always seem to come from way down deep inside you.  Thank you for being my special grandma and for being a great-grandma to my daughters. I love you.

Mamaw we will love and miss you.. We know you will be watching over all of us and smiling upon us.. Until the day we all meet again you will forever be in our hearts...

Mammaw, you will be missed dearly everyday. I will miss your smile and kind words. I love you very much, always have....always will!

Mam-Ma I will miss your smile. witty humor and so much more!  But my memories will be in my heart forever...You left us to celebrate Dad's birthday with  all your men at your side.  Give Jon, Pap-Pa Clyde, and Dad a hug and kiss for me and know we will be together again someday.  I miss you so much but in my heart I know you are my angel watching over us with Jon beside you...Until we see each other again I LOVE YOU!!!

OBITUARY

Frances Pearl Roney

June 11, 1917 – June 13, 2011

Radney Funeral Home - Mobile

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services