Wilma Sandlin Bruton died Thursday, January 3, 2018 at Limestone Health Facility in Athens. Services will be held at Morrison Funeral Home, Tuscumbia today, January 6, 2018, with visitation from 1-3:30 p.m. and funeral service immediately following with Reggie Bruce officiating. Interment will be at Oakwood Cemetery, Tuscumbia.
Wilma was born June 29, 1927 in Lawrence County, Alabama, one of a set of twins and a sibship of four. She graduated from Hatton High School and immediately set out to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse by riding a train to Birmingham, Alabama to attend South Highlands Infirmary School of Nursing. Upon graduation, she worked for a short time in Kentucky and then in Florence, and later in Sheffield, at Helen Keller Hospital. She married Kenneth Darrell Bruton in 1949.
Wilma retired from nursing in 1988 and enjoyed many happy years of gardening, helping Darrell on the farm, and most of all, watching her grandchildren grow up. She especially enjoyed visiting the sick and participating in church activities at Spring Valley Baptist. Wilma is remembered fondly by friends and family as one always eager to remove stitches, give shots, and offer medical advice, in a day and time before the internet and walk-in clinics were prevalent.
Wilma was preceded in death by her parents, Claude and Lassie Sandlin; by her twin sister, Dean Thrasher; and by her only brother, Owen Sandlin.
She is survived by her beloved sister Dot Goodwin; and brother-in-law, J.C. Goodwin; as well as one sister-in-law, Marie Sandlin. She is also survived by her son, Kenneth Charles Bruton and wife Lisa, of Huntsville; and her daughter, Wanda Bruton Fry and husband Guy, of Athens.
Left to cherish her memory are six wonderful grandchildren, Leslie Bruton Tate and husband Stephen, of Memphis, Tennessee; Ethan Bruton and Anna Bruton, of Huntsville, Joel Fry, of Athens, Andrew Fry and wife Monica, of Denver, Colorado, and Eric Fry, of Dallas, Texas. Survivors also include beloved nieces, Connie Hatcher, Nell Yarbrough, Cathy Sanderson, Medina Peebles, Angela Clark, Martha Black, and Beth Everett as well as nephew, David Goodwin.
Pallbearers are grandsons, grandson-in-law, Stephen Tate, and nephew, David Goodwin.
The family wishes to thank the members of Spring Valley Baptist Church for their many kindnesses and the staff of Morningside Assisted Living where she lived for the last two years of her life.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Spring Valley Baptist Church or your favorite charity.
