Naomi Jackson Daniel met her Lord and Savior on May 10, 2010 at her daughter’s home, completely surrounded with love from her God and her family. She was also in the presence of thirty-six collectable angels at her bedside from her family, friends, and caregivers to comfort her with the reminder of the Lord’s promise to give angels charge over his children and keep them in all their ways.
She was born on December 3, 1930 to Eva Hodges and William Grady Jackson and raised by her grandparents Willie Mae and Henry Jackson in the rural town of Riddleville , GA where she graduated from high school. Like the independent and courageous woman she always was, she left her small country town for the big city of Atlanta to live on her own in an apartment on Ponce De Leon Avenue to attend business school and eventually work at the Department of Labor. While working there, she caught the attention of a World War II veteran, John Columbus Daniel, who rode the trolley through Atlanta just to date her and eventually who asked for her hand in marriage. After their wedding in 1949, they moved into their first home on Macon Place in Atlanta, Georgia where she raised her two oldest beloved children Melanie and Barry. When Barry was a senior in high school and Melanie, a college student, she was blessed with another daughter, Kimberly, at age 40. Upon Kim’s graduation from high school, she was further blessed with the privilege of raising granddaughter Mallory. She was the matriarch of the family, the ultimate embodiment of a mother’s love, raising children for over 50 years of her life. To her grandchildren, she was affectionately known as “Memaw” and the one who would slip them just one more piece of her delicious banana bread while the adults weren’t watching. Throughout her marriage, she was an active member of Lakewood Heights UMC, Riverdale UMC and most recently, Peachtree City UMC where she was passionately involved in the Ad-Loy-Ho Sunday school class and a humble servant on the finance committee for the church. This was her life story: putting others before herself. At family gatherings, she would clean and help the children with their plates, busying herself so that she was always last in line for food. Her trust in God was unshakeable, especially transparent as she battled lung cancer in the past two years. She was kind, generous, compassionate, and understanding throughout her entire life and the mother of all mothers to her children and grandchildren. She was the most devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. Her love for her family was the ultimate display of true agape love.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John “JC” Daniel, of 50 years and her daughter Melanie Chapman. Celebrating her memory and life, her survivors include her daughter Kimberly Metarko, son-in-law Jeff Metarko, son Barry Daniel, daughter-in-law Shirley Daniel, son-in-law Phil Chapman, seven granddaughters Addie, Annabelle, and Avery Metarko, Lanier Daniel, Brittany Dorshimer, husband Kurt Dorshimer, Hayley and Mallory Chapman, two great-grandsons Tanner and Trey Dorshimer, and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation was Thursday May 13, 2010 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM and 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Mowell Funeral Home, 200 Robinson Road, Peachtree City, GA 30269. Funeral services were held Friday May 14, 2010 at 2:00 PM at Peachtree City United Methodist Church, 225 Robinson Road, Peachtree City, GA 30269. The body will lie in state from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Memorial contributions can be made to Red Bird Mission, Inc., Winshape Foundation, Inc., and PTCUMC family ministries
