Azzie Stapleton

Funeral services for Mrs. Azzie Stapleton will be conducted at 11:00 AM Saturday, December 23, 2023 at Dublin Baptist Church with the Reverend Dean Register officiating.  Interment will follow in the church cemetery.  Mrs. Stapleton, age 90, entered into the eternal rest of her Lord early Wednesday morning, December 20, 2023 at the Jefferson Davis Extended Care Facility.  Saulters Moore Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

The family will receive friends Saturday morning beginning at 10:00 AM until 11:00 AM at Dublin Baptist Church.

Serving as Pallbearers are Ethan McPhail, Stoney Bryant, Brody Bryant, Trent Duckworth, Nathan Cascio and Chase Duckworth.   

Azzie Stapleton was born on June 16, 1933 in Jefferson Davis County to John and Chellie Burkhalter Shoemake.  She spent the majority of her life in Jefferson Davis County and attended school at Carson, where she became a fixture in the community. Her career spanned across various roles, including being a former cafeteria worker at Prentiss School and a factory worker at KLH Industries in Prentiss. However, it was her role as a homemaker that truly defined her life's greatest work.

Mrs. Stapleton's nurturing spirit and immense love for children were evident to all who knew her. She had a heart that radiated with joy whenever she was around little ones. It was said that if you placed a baby in her lap, her face would light up with pure delight.  Mrs. Stapleton not only raised her own son but opened her heart and home to several other children, treating them as if they were her very own.  Christmas and Thanksgiving held a special place in Azzie's heart. These holidays brought the family together, filling their home with boundless joy and infectious laughter. Her roast, potato salad, and Husband's Delight dessert became legendary among family members and friends as they looked forward to these at family gatherings.  Mom to some, Nana or Granny to others and friend to many, she touched lives in a way that words cannot express. Her kindness, tenderness, and genuine care for others make her a shining example for all of us. We honor her memory by embracing the qualities that made her so extraordinary – love, compassion, and a nurturing spirit.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Stapleton is preceded in death by her husbands, Carl White and Troy Stapleton; foster-daughter, Shirley Johnson; foster-son, Kenneth Cliburn; sisters, Eda Mae White, Vondee Carter and her brothers, J.C. Shoemake and Elbert Shoemake.

Her memory will forever be cherished by her son, Wayne White of Prentiss; foster-daughters, Alice Mauldin of Seminary, Jeanie Griffith (Webber) of Collins; step daughter, Troyanne Parham (the late Bill Parham) of Villa Rica, GA; step-sons, Steve Stapleton (Alisa), Clifton Stapleton (Stacy), Brad Stapleton (Sylvia), Bruce Stapleton (Kathy), all of Collins; she also leaves behind her grandson Gordon White (Danielle) and great-granddaughter, Hadlee White, all of Wiggins; her step-grandchildren, Madison Rankin, Matthew Rankin, Nolan Stapleton, Hunter Stapleton, Tina Stapleton, Loraine Stapleton, Carlajo Stapleton, Keith Stapleton, Stephanie Stapleton, Haley Starr, Trey Parham, Taylor Smith, Sallie Napps and her step-great-grandson, Cooper Rankin.

Online condolences and a guest registry are available at www.saultersmoorefuneralhome.com