Maggie Arrington

News Obituary Article

ATLANTA: Maggie Arrington, ex-council chief's mom

By KAY POWELL

Maggie Arrington reared her family in the projects, cleaning houses to afford each child an advanced college degree.

The family lived in Grady Homes until her husband, George Arrington, hit the bug --- a numbers game --- for $10,000. He bought the family a house in southwest Atlanta and a grocery store, according to a 1997 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. Mrs. Arrington continued to work as a maid, her job for 30 years.

Among her five children there are three law degrees and two master's degrees, said her daughter Cynthia Wright of Atlanta, who holds a master's in social work. One son, Fulton Superior Court Judge Marvin S. Arrington Sr., is a former Atlanta City Council president.

The funeral for Maggie Andrews Arrington, 89, who died of Alzheimer's disease at her Budd Terrace residence Thursday, will be noon Wednesday at Lindsay Street Baptist Church. Sellers Bros. is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Arrington moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta at 6 and worked until 1979, said her daughter. She was noted for her baking, especially chocolate layer cakes and Japanese fruitcakes.

When she worked the polls during Atlanta elections, she took fresh baked goods to share with other volunteers, and even the voters, said her daughter. She baked fruitcakes to send to family and her children's friends across the country.

She had time for all that baking, said her daughter, "because when she got home from work, she expected us to have the house clean!"

Survivors include two other daughters, Elaine Daniel and Audrey Arrington, both of Atlanta; another son, Joseph Arrington Sr. of Atlanta; 12 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

© 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution