Early-Dekalb County GaArchives Obituaries.....Bynum, Annette February 1, 2005 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joseph Valles jvalles@hotmail.com June 21, 2005, 2:53 pm Atlanta Journal Constitution 2/3/2005 Mrs. Annette Bynum Valles, age 81 of Decatur, GA, passed away February 1, 2005. Mrs. Valles was preceded in death by her husband, Major Joe R. Valles. She is survived by sons, William and Julie Valles, Hoschton; Joseph and Yang Shen Valles, Stockbridge; sister, Mary Lindsey, Madison, AL; brothers, Jack Bynum, Blakely; Robert Bynum, Blakely; several nieces and nephews. Funeral mass will be held Friday, February 4, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Thomas More Church, Atlanta at 2:00 p.m. with Father Pavol Brenkus as Celebrant; interment, Resthaven Garden of Memories. Family will receive friends Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. Mrs. Valles, a native of Blakely, GA, was a member of St. Thomas More Church for 30 years, a voter registrar for 20 years, and worked for the DeKalb Sun News for 16 years. Horis A. Ward Funeral Home - Fairview Chapel, 770-474-1231. Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 2/3/2005. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- February 10, 2005 Eulogy for Annette Bynum Valles, February 4th, 2005 at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Decatur, Georgia Thank you all for coming today and expressing your love for my dear Mother, Annette Bynum Valles in this Funeral Mass service, and for helping to honor her return to our Heavenly Home. I'd like to make a few remarks concerning her interesting character and personality. From her beginnings in rural Hilton, Georgia, near Blakely in Early County, she soon revealed remarkable qualities that would shape her life. She remembered as a child, listening to the Bible stories that Old Mr. Barron-- who was the splitting image of that well-known Kentucky Colonel--you know the one with a grey goatee and a black string tie and white suit--as he would gather up scores of children under a great oak tree by their little country Church on Sunday afternoons to tell exciting stories of Noah and Abraham. My Mother came to know early of God's promises and of Our Lord 's sacrifice in a vivid way that a child could never forget. Her faith was deepened years later as a new bride, when she travelled to New Mexico and a harsh environment, and a even harsher society, that saw her as an outsider speaking a different language with a different culture who didn't belong. Here she found refuge in the Church, which gave her new inner strength to cope. Her intelligence was also remarkable. Annette had the memory of an elephant! A prodigious memory, and could recall facts and dates of events and people through her memories and knowledge of others in Georgia and beyond. She was always called upon to answer the question of who did this, what that was, and why was it so. With her passing, we have lost someone who knew many things now lost to history! But the character trait most remembered by those who knew her was her sense of fun and mirth! Oh how she enjoyed a good practical joke! And woe to you if you were her target and got stung! Children loved my mother, and I remember always being startled by seeing children, who did not know her, catch sight of her and run up to meet her! Her happy smile and deep green eyes seemed like a beacon to them. After she had so much pain and trouble bringing her own children into the world--she had 6 miscarriages before I came along after 12 years--she and my father began to be foster parents, assisting in rescuing and nursing back to health abused and neglected children in Kansas until they could be adopted. There were so many of these children! Annette's qualities of motherhood were indeed remarkable! Her civic-mindedness was well-known. She was a voter registrar and poll worker here in DeKalb County for nearly 20 years. She worked even up until last year at the age of 81. She was probably one of the oldest, still-serving poll workers in the state of Georgia. She knew every one of the thousands of registered voters in that district by sight, and often by name. And she had an unconditional love for everyone. Many times I witnessed a strange sight at the polls where she worked...picture hundreds of voters arriving at the polls who would first want to go up and greet my mother --white, black, green or yellow, it didn't matter--with a hug and a kiss...and only after that, would they get in line to vote. It was truly amazing. As a young woman during WWII, Annette worked with the USO in Columbus, Georgia, where she sold War Bonds with visiting Hollywood stars, including Jane Russell, who was fired from a local drugstore for not selling enough merchandise to the customers, who only came in to look at the actress and get her autograph! Annette was also sent to Biloxi, Mississippi with a bunch of other Columbus girls to work on building liberty ships for the War--a real- life Rosie the Riveter! Like her father before her, she was not afraid to stand up for the little guy, and would go right to the topdog to get the job done. I recall that one time when, as an Air Force wife, living near Independence, Missouri, my mother got to know Presidents Eisenhower and Truman well as her neighbors . I can testify to that, because on two separate occasions as a little boy, I remember being kissed by each one while on one of my daily stroller rides. Of course, it's not whom you know that marks the measure of a person, but what they are inside. I can only say that her passing has rocked the worlds of many people, and I have had to contact many, many folks, from Washington all the way to Shanghai, China. Some people knew that Annette received a great spiritual gift in her life. She could sometimes know of things that were going to happen before they did. I could give you many strange and wonderful examples of this, but none is more poignant and meaningful than the fact that two weeks prior to her death, she began to gather up her legal papers and check their arrangements, all in an effort to try and spare her family the anguish of having to do this after she had gone. I told her, "You don't have to do this, Mamma, we do after you're gone, so don't worry about it!." "I must do this," she said after I protested; but, just like every time when something like this happened before, she was right. After her recent unexpected short stay in the hospital, she was all-too- quickly called home, and we were all shocked again when we remembered the accuracy and truth of the prophecy she had just recently made. With such a beautiful and powerful personality, I am sure that Heaven has rejoiced in my Mother's homecoming, and I count us all blessed to have been able to know and love her. But Georgia has lost one of its great ladies, America has lost a great citizen, and the World has lost a Great Soul; and, as we'd say down here in South Georgia: "We just took a big lick, y'all; Lordy, Lordy, we gon' miss that gal!" Joseph Valles (Stockbridge, GA ) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/early/obits/b/bynum7238ob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 7.5 Kb