Emily Martha Macon Lillard

LILLARD, EMILY MARTHA MACON, a resident of Perdido Key, FL., died at a local hospital in Pensacola, FL, on October 1, 2003. She was born on March 25, 1938, in Montgomery, AL. She grew up in Birmingham, AL, and moved from there to Texas, where she graduated from Baylor University in 1959 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and English. She first worked as a journalist at the Waco Tribune Herald in Waco, Texas, as society editor. After raising her two daughters, she returned in 1987 to the field of journalism and worked near Dallas at the Plano Profile. She moved to Mobile, AL, in 1988 and worked as a reporter for the Azalea City News. She later founded and worked as owner and publisher of the Spotlight newspaper, which captured the culture and flavor of south Baldwin County, AL, especially Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, for more than 10 years. She closed the Spotlight in 2000 when her health began declining. For the last three years, she was public relations and publicity manager for Lizard Tales, a selection of children's books written and illustrated by her daughter Elizabeth Lillard. Martha, who loved writing, reading, the arts, and living near the water on the Emerald Coast of Florida, was preceded by her father, Dr. Leon Meertief Macon, former editor of the Alabama Baptist newspaper, and her mother, Emily May Bodden Macon. She is survived by her former husband, "Woody" Lillard of Houston, Texas; two daughters, Emily Elizabeth Lillard of Perdido Key, FL; Susan Lillard Fendley (Michael) of Houston, Texas; and one granddaughter, Elizabeth Brooke Fendley of Houston, Texas; an uncle, Thomas R. Bodden, and a cousin, Thomas R. Bodden Jr. (Jerryann) of Mobile, AL; a brother, Rodney Wayne Macon (Faith) of Austin, Texas; a sister, Sondra Nichols of Birmingham, AL; other family members; and many friends. Visitation will be Saturday, October 4, 2003 at 9 a.m. at Pine Crest Funeral Home and Cemetery, 1939 Dauphin Island Parkway, Mobile, AL Graveside Services will follow at 11 a.m. Her family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Cancer Society, 701 E. Cervantes St., Pensacola, FL 32501, 1-800-227-2345.