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Annie Seail Tarver Tatum was born on April 28, 1927 in Midway, Alabama. She was the daughter of the late Robert Tarver and the late Annie Lee Alexander Tarver. From that union, four sons were born and one daughter, who was the youngest of them all. Momma accepted Christ at the age of eleven and joined the Mount Coney Missionary Baptist Church in Midway, Alabama. She was baptized and received the right hand of fellowship by the late Reverend Ike Robbins. She later moved to Union Springs, Alabama with her parents. On December 21, 1946, Momma was united in holy matrimony to President Franklin Tatum at the Bullock County Courthouse. The ceremony was performed in the Office of Judge of Probate, administered by the late Probate Judge J.H. Sims. She then joined The Greater Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Reverend J. N. Hollis where she served faithfully until her health failed. She was also a dedicated member of the Eastern Star Chapter #719 Cotton Valley, Alabama in which she served for over fifty years until her health failed. She was a devoted field worker of the Old Pine Grove District where she won the Field Worker's Banner multiple times in the Women's Department. She served faithfully until her health failed.
Momma was the mother of ten children and she was the matriach and bedrock of her family. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, cousin and most of all a servant of God. She was a virtuous woman, full of courage, temperance, tenacity, vigor and exhibited an unwavering Faith in God. She was blessed with longevity, truly a gift from God.
Momma labored in the work force for a long time. She worked in farming and domestic industries. She retired from Wayne Farms in 1980. She worked tirelessly with various civil rights, voting rights and political campaigns in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. She became a registered voter on February 16, 1966 with the Board of Registrars. Her proudest votes cast were for her sons; Fred L. Tatum, during the Democratic Primary in 1994 for the Bullock County Board of Education and James E. Tatum for Bullock County Judge of Probate in 2012 and 2018. Also, she was very proud to have cast her vote for Barack Obama for President of the United States in 2008 and 2012. She never missed an Election to cast a vote. At the age of ninety-six, she was one of the oldest citizens in the United States of America.
Momma answered the master's call on June 12, 2023 at the Bethany House in Auburn, Alabama surrounded by family and health care providers. She was preceded in death by her parents, her father-in-law, Henry Tatum and mother-in-law, Louise Jones Tatum, six children; Jimmy Tarver, McArthur Tarver, Sarah Tatum, Eddie B. Tatum, Geraldine Tatum, and Atlene Tatum, four brothers; Clarence Tarver, Bill Tarver, Tom Tarver, and Homer Tarver, son-in-law; Joseph Singleton and three daughters-in-law; Lillie Bell Tarver, Rita Allen Tarver, and Mildred Tatum.
She leaves to cherish her memories: two daughters, Margaret Tatum Singleton and Rosie M. Tatum, both of East Pointe, Michigan; two sons, Retired Sgt. ADOC Deacon Fred L. Tatum and Bullock County Probate Judge James E. Tatum and one daughter-in-law Mary Nell Tatum, all of Union Springs, Alabama; fifteen grandchildren, twenty-two great grandchildren, three great, great grandchildren and a host of devoted nieces and nephews, other relatives and special friends.
Funeral services were held on Saturday, June 24, 2023 at The Greater Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Union Springs, Alabama.
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