Robbie Bruce Mock, Carrollton, GA, 93, beloved wife of the late W. H. Mock, Sr, peacefully transitioned to her eternal home Monday evening, December 10, after an extended illness.
Robbie, was born in Dalton, Ky., the seventh daughter of John and Cordelia Bruce. She and W.H. were married on December 9, 1940, and began raising their family in Madisonville, KY. They also lived in Atlanta and in Memphis, TN. where they made lifelong friends, before retiring and moving to Carrollton in 1975.
In her early years, she worked side-by-side her father, brothers and sisters farming in the rolling hills of western Kentucky. During WW II while her husband was overseas, Robbie worked at a parachute factory in Madisonville, and took great pride in sharing how her work was used by the supervisors to demonstrate exactly how parachutes should be made. She often wondered just how many of those who fought in that war used one of her parachutes.
Taught how to sew by her mother and sisters, she remained an avid seamstress throughout her life and used that skill to make dozens of quilts that are cherished by all who received them as wedding gifts, baby gifts or just because she loved them. She also worked as a chauffeur for the Reading family in Madisonville and in the Shipping and Receiving department of Sears Roebuck & Co. Always active in her church, she was a member of Grapevine Baptist Church's choir and of The Baptist Hour Quartet, singing during the church's weekly radio program and at various revivals and functions in and around western Kentucky.
Robbie was an avid bowler and quite a good one, usually carrying an average in the 180's, and accumulating numerous trophies which she was quite proud to display. She and W.H. were also avid gardeners and relished in growing more than they needed so they could share their canned goods with family and friends throughout the year. They always planted by "the signs" and rarely ever failed to have a garden overflowing with whatever they planted. In fact, Robbie was always receiving calls from her friends during the planting season on the best time to plant which crops, and she was always happy to oblige them with an answer.
Having grown up in a time when everyone in the family shared the work load, she learned at a very early age how to cook. In fact, all of her sisters were renowned as great cooks, and Robbie was known by all who knew her as one of the best. Nothing made her happier than to cook for her family. She especially enjoyed fixing her fried apple pies and taking them to Tabernacle Baptist Church on any work day to share with those who were volunteering their time at the church.
As with many members of the "Greatest Generation," her knowledge was knowledge that could never be learned in books. To her family, there didn't seem to be much she couldn't do or figure out how to do, and they always believed she had more common sense than anyone they knew.
She is loved and survived by her daughters Anna (Edwin) Miller, Fayetteville, GA and Marsha Mock, Atlanta, GA.; one son, Bill (Kay) Mock, West Chester, OH; seven grandchildren Carolyn, Jennifer & Jason McConnell, Tina Miller all of Atlanta; Darren (Mariann) Mock and Preston (Christi) Mock, Raleigh, NC, and Stacey Mock, Durango, CO.; and six great-grandchildren, Morgan and Will McConnell, Atlanta; and McKenzie, Carter, Logan and Dylan Mock, Raleigh. She is survived by one sister, Opal Carbagal, Lincoln Park, MI., and many cherished nieces, nephews and cousins. In addition to her loving husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, sisters Mae Morse, Trudie Stevens, Minnie Bruce, Agnes Lynn, Jane Higgins, Rachael Baucum and Meekle Clark; brothers, Everett, James, Ernest, and J.W.
While she was active in Tabernacle Baptist, she volunteered in the music department and a number of other areas. She was a member of the Praise Singers and an active member in the Faithful Sharing Believers Sunday School class. Funeral services will be conducted Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 2 PM from Martin & Hightower Heritage Chapel with Dr. Jimmy Gentry, Dr. J. Howard Cobble and Rev. Charles Cox officiating. Interment will follow in Carroll Memory Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Saturday, December 15, from 11 a.m. until the funeral hour at 2:00 p.m.
Martin & Hightower Heritage Chapel has charge of the arrangements.