Mattie Ellen Germany Walton A graveside service and interment will be at the Mount Zion United Methodist Church cemetery in Union on Saturday, June 13, at 11:00 a.m. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Mattie Ellen Germany Walton passed away peacefully on June 9, 2015 at Bedford Care Center in Marion. She was two weeks short of her 93rd birthday. She was the daughter of Maggie Mae Slaughter Germany and Martin Luther Germany. Born in the Zephyr Hill community of Neshoba County, Mattie Ellen spent her formative years in those red clay hills. She played basketball at Zephyr Hill where Russell Walton, whom she would marry in 1940, was her coach! After teaching in Decatur and Carthage, Mattie Ellen and Russell moved to Meridian in 1954, where he took a job with Mississippi Vocational Rehabilitation. They were stalwart members of Central United Methodist Church. They both were avid bridge players and participated in several regular groups, as well as many spontaneous games with friends. Russell loved to garden and Mattie Ellen was long-suffering in her willingness to put up huge quantities of peas, corn, and butterbeans. Russell and Mattie Ellen learned to square dance in Meridian and spent many nights promenading around various dance floors. Mattie Ellen became a widow in 1986. Without Russell by her side, she found herself being taken in by a large group of lady friends who regularly ate together, played cards together, traveled together, and became each other's second family.' Mattie Ellen outlived all but two of her buddies. In the great scheme of things, a parent should never have to bury a child, but Mattie Ellen had to lay her youngest son, Ned Cary Walton, to rest in 2009. She is survived by her other two children, Suellen Walton Pascal (Bob) of Tucson, Arizona, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Ronnie Walton (Dianne) of Meridian. Mattie Ellen is survived by grandchildren Laura Pascal, Pittsburgh, PA; Katie Pascal Walsh (Drake), Baton Rouge, LA; Robert Pascal, Jr., Omaha, NE; Molly Pascal Dreiman (Bill), Northville, MI; Tyler Walton (Nancy), Meridian, MS; and William Walton (Lauren), Birmingham, AL. Her great-grandchildren are Neil and Hayden Walsh; William, Emma, and Kate Dreiman; Grant, Finley, and Nicholas Walton; and Russell and Anson Walton. The family asks that memorials be made to the Ned Walton Fund of the Community Foundation of East Mississippi, P.O. Box 865, Meridian, MS 39302-0865. Family and friends may sign the online guestbook at robertbarhamffh.com. Visitation will be held at Central Methodist Church on Thursday, June 11, from 5:00-11:00 p.m.
