Martha Bagby

Martha Malissa Bagby, 90, of Gravois Mills, Mo., died Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003, at Good Shepard Care Center in Versailles, Mo.

She was born April 27, 1912, at Coldwater, Mo., daughter of Joseph Alfred and Ida May Allen Winder. She and Jesse Lewis May were married in 1931 at Steele, Mo. He died in 1949. She and Irvin Joseph Bagby were married April 6, 1969, at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. He died in 1990.

Bagby lived in Cape Girardeau most of her life, moving to Gravois Mills in 2000. She had been a cook at Central High School and Lynch Nursing Home. She was a charter and also the oldest member of Northside Gospel Assembly Church in Cape Girardeau.

Survivors include a son, William "Billy Joe" May of Cape Girardeau; a daughter, Shirley Heath of Gravois Mills; a sister, Peggy Abernathy of Bakersfield, Calif.; a brother, Chester Winder of state of Idaho; nine grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by a daughter, three brothers, and two sisters.

Friends may call at Northside Gospel Assembly Church after 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the church. The Rev. Winferd Wren will officiate. Burial will be in Lorimier Cemetery.

Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.