Sarah Hudson Akin

Sarah Hudson Akin, age 92 of Waverly Hall, GA, passed away Thursday, December 11, 2025, at her residence.
Sarah was born March 27, 1933, in Talbotton, GA, the daughter of Talmadge C. Hudson and Ethel Magouirt Hudson. She was raised in Talbotton where she spent much of her early childhood riding her bicycle and learning to roller-skate around the old gazebo and well on the courthouse square. As a young girl she was baptized and became a member of Talbotton Baptist Church. All of her schooling was received in Talbotton, except for one year, during a building remodel, she and all her high school classmates attended school in Woodland. On November 15, 1947 she married Edward Gunby Akin. On that day the couple left Talbotton, telling their families that they were going to the Georgia-Auburn game in Columbus. They actually made their way across the Chattahoochee River, to the Russell County, Alabama, courthouse, where they were married. Upon returning, they went to their separate homes and kept the marriage a secret for two weeks until a close family friend, Judge Thomas H. Mahone of Talbotton, through casual conversation with a Russell County judge across the river, discovered their union and notified their parents. After making their home in Geneva, Talbotton and Columbus, GA, she and Ed settled into a permanent home in Waverly Hall, where they raised their six children.
In the mid-1960's, Sarah worked several years for Goody Products in Manchester, where she made numerous friends. She later made even more friends and acquaintances as she assisted her daughter, Betty in the operation of The Saturday Bath, a towel, bath accessory and gift store in Waverly Hall, where she retired after eighteen years. She was a member of Waverly Hall Methodist Church, and the former WSCS and UMW.
First and foremost, however, she was a homemaker, a loving and caring wife and mother, making certain that three meals a day were prepared for her family. She served as the family seamstress, often making dresses for her daughters and seeing that everyone's clothes were clean and pressed. She supported each one of her children in their interests, whether it was cheerleading, sports, hunting arrowheads, or collecting baseball cards, antiques, or just "junk". She often remarked that though her early marriage prevented completion of high school, after all the years of assisting each of her children with their homework, she had as much, if not more, education than they did. All this while answering phone calls and keeping books for her husband's plumbing business. She was a wizard at mathematics and could add figures with ease often without a pencil or paper. Sarah loved flowers, and for as long as she was able, her flower beds and planter boxes were a showplace of ferns, begonias, and all varieties of anything that bloomed. She was an avid collector of antiques, glassware, and dolls, and until recent days, enjoyed repairing and making doll clothes. She maintained trunks full of genealogy research and loved keeping photo albums and scrapbooks on all of her children and their families. In her late years she spent much time caring for her youngest grandchildren, making sure they arrived home safely from school and always having some treats ready. She was everything that a wife, mother and grandmother should be. She did her best.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death in 1992 by her husband of forty-four years, Edward G. Akin; an infant brother, Samuel Walker Hudson; four half-sisters, and three half-brothers.
She is survived by her children; Sarah Elizabeth "Betty" Akin Johnston and her husband Larry of Waverly Hall, Shirley Ann Akin Stone and her husband Ed of Washington, NC, Edward Michael "Mike" Akin and his wife Amelia of Martinez, GA, Gerald Ray Akin and his wife Donna of Smiths Station, AL, Daniel T. Akin and his wife Jennifer of Waverly Hall, and Jonathan Hudson Akin and his wife Tiffany of London, KY; fourteen grandchildren; Betty's children, Molly Johnston Horiuchi (David), Marian Johnston Fleckinger (Paul); Shirley's daughter, Kasey Ann Stone; Mike's children, Jennifer Akin Hood (Mike), Beth Akin Powell (Jay); Ray's children, Carmen Akin Rice (Steven), Jerry Akin (Claire), Camille Akin Reed (Mike), Joseph Akin (Shelby); Dan's children, Sallie Helen Akin, Briley T. G. Akin; and Jonathan's children, Hudson Akin, Callie Akin, and Tori Akin; a sister-in-law, Babs Akin of Roswell, GA; nineteen great-grandchildren, four great-great grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be from 2:00 until 5:00 PM Sunday, December 14, at Cox Funeral Home in Manchester, GA.
Funeral services will be held 1:00 PM Monday, December 15, 2025, at Waverly Hall Methodist Church, with her pastor, Rev. Alan Barrett, former Pastor, Rev. Dr. Scott Hagan and her grandson, Rev. Dr. Jerry Akin officiating. Interment will follow in the family plot in Waverly Hall Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in her memory to Waverly Hall Methodist Church, P. O. Box 9, Waverly Hall, GA 31831.
Cox Funeral Home, Manchester, GA, is assisting the family with arrangements.