Merle Thornton Middleton

Published 4:34 pm Monday, June 3, 2019

Merle Thornton Middleton, 86, of Bainbridge, Ga., passed away Monday, June 3, 2019.

The funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 6, 2019 at Morningside Baptist Church with Rev. Jimmy Dean officiating.  Interment will be at Spring Creek Baptist Church Cemetery with Jason Lockart, Tad Kelley, Shawn Dean, Cameron Carroll, Kevin Willis and Wyatt Willis serving as active pallbearers.

The family will receive friends immediately following the service. Online visitors may sign the guest register atwww.iveyfuneral.com. Memorial donations may be made to American Heart Association, 10 Glenlake Pkwy.NE, South Tower Suite 400, Atlanta, Ga. 30328 or Morningside Baptist Church, P. O. Box 7009, Bainbridge, Ga. 39818.

Merle Thornton was born July 12, 1932 in Colquitt, Ga., the daughter of Ira and Myrtice Morring Thornton. She married Edgar Franklin Middleton after high school graduation, and they made their home in southwest Georgia. Merle was a member of Morningside Baptist Church.

Affectionately known to the masses as “Nanny”, Merle was known for her listening ear and sage advice. Though she was strong willed (with a little stubborn streak) she never wavered on being the “best mother ever” according to her children. This true southern lady could cook and all you had to say is “Nanny, I’m hungry” and the likes of biscuits, tomato gravy, chicken & rice, a pound cake or whatever else you may have a hankering for were set in motion. Merle was a hands-on grandmother and spent her days making sure her grands made memories that would never fade. She kept a spotless house and noted nothing cleaned like Clorox. Merle’s favorite pastimes included reading, working in her yard and bantering with Steve as long as they didn’t interfere with Young & The Restless.

Survivors include her children, Cheryl McDonald and her husband, Harry, of  Donalsonville, Ga., Charlotte Harrell and her husband, Myron, of Bainbridge, Ga. and Steve Middleton and his wife, Marsha, also of Bainbridge; her sister, Margaret Reeves of Auburndale, Fl.; her grandchildren, Cynamon & Kevin, Misti & Tad, Jason & Jacki, Jennifer, Mandy & Shawn and Charla & Cameron; her great-grandchildren, Drew, Allison & Luke, Madelyn, Anna Lee, Wyatt, Isabella, Dylan, Ella Kate, Mary Davis, Ashton, Lane, Brinkley and Leath; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, Merle was preceded in death by her husband of 40 years, Ed Middleton; her brother, Buford Thornton; and her grandson, Matthew Harrell.