Martha Jane Middlebrooks McKissack

Martha Jane Middlebrooks McKissack, 83, of Christiansburg, Va., died on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, at Montgomery Regional Hospital. She was born in Savannah, Ga., on October 5, 1926, to the late E. Carl and Lucille Elizabeth Daniel Middlebrooks. She was preceded in death by her husband, Herbert Ingram McKissack. Jane was a native of Savannah, Ga., and long time resident of Ft. Gaines, Ga. She was the only daughter of Carl and Lucille Middlebrooks. She was the widow of Herbert McKissack, a well known business man in Ft. Gaines, Ga., for 25 years before his death in 1973. While in Ft. Gaines, she was a member of the United Methodist Church, a member of the Ft. Gaines Home and Garden Club, a city council elected official for 20 years, and a retired teacher from the Clay County and Randolph Clay High Schools. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a BFA degree in art and was a Delta Delta Delta sorority member. She received a master of education degree with an emphasis in English from Georgia Southwestern in Americus in 1978. Survivors include a daughter, Kim McKissack Waterman and her husband, James Arthur Waterman; one granddaughter, Holly Rowan Waterman, of Radford, Va.; one double first cousin, Joyce Mann, of Macon, Ga., and her husband, Dr. David Mann; and several cousins. Jane was cremated and her remains carried to New Park Cemetery in Ft. Gaines, Ga. The family will have a graveside service 11 a.m. on Monday, November 23, 2009, and she will be interred beside her husband, Herbert Ingram McKissack, in the family plot. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home Blacksburg, Va.