Margaret Garrett Pritchett

Funeral services for Mrs. Margaret Garrett Pritchett will begin at 11:00 AM Saturday, December 27, 2025, at First Baptist Church-Lauderdale with the Reverend David Etter and Mike Russell officiating. Interment will follow graveside rites at Lockhart Cemetery. The Pritchett Family will receive guests from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM Friday, December 26, 2025, at the funeral home and from 10:00 AM until 10:45 AM prior to funeral rites, Saturday, at the church. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.

Margaret Helen Garrett Pritchett, 91, passed peacefully into the arms of her Lord and Savior Saturday, December 20, 2025, surrounded by her daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in her home on the land where six generations of Garretts have lived, labored, and loved.

Born on March 11, 1934, to Mordecai Moore Garrett and Ollie Cliney Partridge Platt Garrett, Margaret was the treasured first daughter of their union. Her father was 65 when she entered the world, and from him she inherited a passion for faithful prayer—a practice she would continue every night of her life, lifting each member of her family by name.

Margaret married Tommy Pritchett on December 18, 1948. Together for 46 years until his passing in 1994, they built a life rooted in commitment and hard work. Their journey took them from small-town beginnings through seasons of challenge and growth, ultimately returning home to build the life they had dreamed of—a construction business, a growing family, and a home that became a gathering place for generations.

She worked as head nurse at Rush Hospital for Dr. Scott's clinic, where her compassionate care touched countless lives. She was a founding member of First Baptist Church of Lauderdale, where she taught Sunday school for many years, nurturing young hearts with the same faithful love she showed her own family.

Margaret's home was a place of warmth and welcome. She hosted large gatherings for family and friends: Sunday dinners, Fourth of July barbecues, and Easter and Christmas Eve celebrations that became cherished traditions. Her hands worked. Her hands loved.

She traveled widely, discovering beauty in distant places and simple pleasures alike. She loved reading novels and tasting unique food, finding joy in both the familiar and the new. She lived fully, loved deeply, and followed her Lord faithfully until her final breath. Even on her deathbed, she comforted her family with "I love you" throughout the brief but serious complications from a stroke.

Her family and community will deeply miss this remarkable woman—her wisdom earned through decades of faithful living, her stories that carried the weight of history, her encouragement that lifted every soul she touched, and her compassion that made each person feel valued and loved. Though her absence leaves an emptiness, her legacy remains a lasting presence.

Mrs. Margaret is survived by her daughters, Barbara Brents (Dallas), Sue Irby (Kenny), Judy Ward, and Gay Collins (Dale); grandchildren, Allen Ward (Bethany), Mary Margaret Adams (Shane), Wayne Irby (Sarah), Brandon Bynum, Dr. Ryan Ward (Amanda), Dr. Taletha Smith (Randall), Brian Irby (Brandy), Eric Collins, Jeremy Collins (Mandy), Daniel Fout (Jennifer), and Dr. Melissa Brents (Matthew Harris); her bonus granddaughter, Brittany Pearson Miller; seventeen great grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild; siblings, Houston Garrett and Patsy Page; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, and extended family members.

Mrs. Pritchett is preceded in death by her husband, Tommy Pritchett; her son-in-law, Larry Ward; her siblings, Ivoe Platt and Vernice Davidson; her parents, Ollie and Mordecai Garrett; her eight half-siblings; and her grandchildren, Brandy Danielle Ward and Tommy Garrett Brents.

Pallbearers will be Alan Ward, Wayne Irby, Dr. Ryan Ward, Brian Irby, Eric Collins, Daniel Fout, Elijah Collins, Ward Adams, and Jeremy Collins.

The Pritchett Family suggests, in lieu of flowers, memorials be made as donations to Lockhart Cemetery Association, c/o Lynn Posey, 8702 Barnacaste Road, Toomsuba, MS 39364, or to First Baptist Church, Lauderdale at 3659 Lauderdale Rd. Lauderdale, MS 39335.

Online condolences may be expressed at robertbarhamffh.com.