Lillie Mae Russell Alderson

Mrs. Lillie Mae Russell Alderson, 101, resident of the Williamsport Community in the same house she maintained for 81 years, died Tuesday, May 29, 2007 at Maury Regional Hospital. Funeral services will be conducted Friday at 2:00 p.m. at Williamsport United Methodist Church with Rev. J. D. Spencer and Rev. Harold White officiating. Burial will be in Williamsport Methodist Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Thursday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols and after 1:00 p.m. Friday at the church. Memorials may be made to Williamsport United Methodist Church, Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com. The oldest of four children of Grover Cleveland Russell, Sr. and Liza Jane Johnson Russell, she was born June 6, 1905 in the little settlement of Chartersville in Maury County, near the Hickman County line. She walked two or three miles to attend grade school on Akin Ridge. After graduating from Columbia Central High School in 1924, she rode horseback to a school near Primm Springs where she taught for a year. In 1925, she married Thomas Howard "Buck" Alderson. Together they operated a general store in Williamsport from 1936 until his death January 28, 1973. Mr. Alderson was the oldest Firestone and Texaco dealer in Maury County. Mrs. Alderson continued to operate the store until 1975. Known as "Momae" to all the young people in Williamsport, she loved children and gave them whatever they wanted out of the store. She loved to cook and had the reputation of being one of the best cooks in Maury County. Mrs. Alderson was the oldest member and active in the Williamsport United Methodist Church and Williamsport Home Demonstration Club. She moved her residence to The Bridge in 2000 and lived there until 2003 when declining health required that she move to Life Care Center.Survivors include a son, Howard "Snooks" Alderson and his wife, Aileen, of Columbia; two granddaughters, Lesa and her husband, Buck Young of Columbia and Martha and her husband, Doug Polk of Cary, North Carolina; seven great-grandchildren, Jay Alderson of Columbia, Shaye Polk of Cary, North Carolina, Emily Young of New York, New York, Lindsay Alderson of Columbia, Lucy Young of Columbia, Daniel Polk of Cary, North Carolina, and Tom Young of Columbia; two step-grandchildren, Dr. Bill (Sheila) Akin of Nashville and Jan (Billy) Ford of Columbus, Mississippi; four step-great-grandchildren; one step-great-great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by a grandson, Michael Alderson, a sister, Elmer White, and two brothers, G. C. Russell, Jr. and Bill Russell. Pallbearers are Jay Alderson, Daniel Polk, Tom Young, Dr. Bill Akin, Buck Young, Doug Polk, Allen Russell, Jim Reed, and Herbert R. White. Honorary pallbearers include members of Williamsport United Methodist Church, staff and nurses of Life Care Center, Dr. Belinda Bart, Jack Johnson, Bob Duncan, David Anderson, Willis "Sonny" Jones, Al Knott, Carl Harris, Jim Bratton, Dr. Harold and Nancy Scott and Mary Jo Folger.