Mamie Marie (McDougle) Vess

Mamie Marie McDougal Vess, 86, of Muscle Shoals, AL, was greeted into heaven on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. Visitation will be held at Colbert Memorial on Saturday, November 6th from 1-2 with the funeral following.

She was preceded in death by her parents, L. A. McDougal and Linda Hand McDougal; daughter, Donna Vess May; siblings, Birdie McDougal Jackson, Carrie McDougal Jackson, Flossie McDougal Green,  Marvin McDougal, Eddie McDougal, Mildred McDougal McDonald, Christine McDougal Jackson, Fred McDougal, and Jesse McDougal.

She leaves behind a great legacy of family: husband, Harold Vess; daughter, Rhonda Vess Blackburn (Josh Tippett); son, Anthony Vess (Detra Bonner);   grandchildren, Crystal Blackburn (Robert Rusin), Joel Blackburn, Michael Campbell (Julie), Jeremy May, Sean May,  Neoshia May Goldman (Matthew), Stephanie Vess, Valerie Vess Evans (Phillip), and Kimberly Vess (Ezra Rowley); sisters, Littia McDougal Wolfe, Bessie McDougal Riley, and Martha McDougal Farmer (William); fifteen great-grandchildren, 3 great-great-grandchildren, a plethora of nieces and nephews, and innumerable friends and loved ones.

Pallbearers will be Ezra Rowley, Joshua Tippett, Kenneth Vess, Michael Campbell, Robert Rusin, and Sean May.

Above all, Mamie Marie loved her Lord and led a life that bore the witness of her faith. Her light radiated through the lives of everyone she touched. She loved family, friends, neighbors, strays, cast-offs, and desperate souls. She never met a stranger. She fed us her amazing Southern cooking and nourished us with her quiet wisdom.  She literally took us in when we had no roof over our heads, and she sheltered our tender spirits in the bulwark of her constant love.  But the heartbreaks she endured alongside us, the pains she helped us heal, did not diminish the glow of her joy.  She rejoiced with song and poetry and prayer! She beamed blessings at newborn babies. She laughed so hard she spit out her food (frequently).  She loved to play - board games, card games, word games, riddles, scavenger hunts, you name it - and everybody wanted to play with her.  Mamie was our matriarch, our mother, our sister, our teacher, our port in the storm, our delight. She was our Maw Maw.   

The family would like to offer a special thanks to the 4th floor and ICU staff at North Alabama Medical Center for their exceptional care and compassion.

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