Sara Maddox

Sara Jane Duke Maddox of Port St. Joe passed away on Saturday, March 4, 2017, five days before her 91st birthday. She is survived by her husband of 69 years, David Benjamin Maddox. Sara was born to L.B. and Mattie Martin Duke on March 9, 1926, in Mitchell County, Ga. She grew up on the family farm that her grandparents homesteaded in the Mount Pleasant Community near Bainbridge. Sara was a member of the girls' basketball team and graduated as valedictorian of her 1945 Mount Pleasant School class. After graduation, she entered the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, training in Atlanta, Ga., and Baltimore, Md. Her nursing training was interrupted as World War II drew to a close, but was resumed later in life. Sara moved to Port St. Joe to work in the local hospital in 1946. Soon after arriving, she met Dave Maddox, who had recently returned from serving in the South Pacific during World War II. They were married in a small family ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 11, 1948, at First Baptist Church, but only after they postponed the wedding three times that afternoon because Dave needed to help sail a very tardy ship. The Maddoxes were blessed with four children who survive: Charlotte Maddox Pierce and her husband, Paul, of Port St. Joe; David C. Maddox of Carencro, La.; Donald B. Maddox of Lafayette, La.; and Eva Maddox Davis and her husband, Cecil, of Tallahassee. She is survived by two granddaughters, Katherine M. Davis and Ashleigh L. Davis. She was preceded in death by her grandson Jonathan P. Pierce and her sister, Vessie Newberry, and brothers, Milton Duke and Edward Duke. Sara invested her life in her family, church, and community. She was a lifelong Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church and Long Avenue Baptist Church and served on many church committees. She taught Sunday School into her late 80s until her health prevented her from continuing. Over the years she served as a Cub Scout Den Mother and school volunteer, was an active member of the PTA and the Band Parents Association, and frequently led ladies' exercise classes. She was a gifted seamstress who sewed many miles on her very, very old Singer sewing machine. When her children were preparing to leave home for college, Sara returned to her nursing education and graduated with a degree from Gulf Coast Community College in 1974, almost 30 years after she first began. She felt that nursing was both a calling and a ministry. She enjoyed her career as a registered nurse and often made and received house calls as needed. Sara will be warmly remembered by her family for her deep abiding faith in God and His sovereignty, the ability to nurture and encourage others, her work ethic which she learned growing up on the farm in south Georgia, and her amazing ability to find humor, even in the bleakest situations. Visitation will be held at First Baptist Church of Port St. Joe on Monday, March 6, 2017, between 5:30 P.M. and 7:30 P.M. ET. The funeral service will follow on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, at 3 p.m. also at First Baptist Church of Port St. Joe. Internment will be held after the service at Holly Hill Cemetery.