Bobbi McKee Pritchett, a long time resident of Sheffield and the Shoals area, passed away at the age of 82 on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. The Pritchett family will welcome friends and relatives for visitation on Saturday, June 29, from 2:30-4 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church in Sheffield. Her funeral service will immediately follow in the church sanctuary. Mrs. Pritchett was a member of Grace Episcopal Church where she taught Sunday school in her younger years. Her husband, Dr. Thomas L. Pritchett Jr.; her parents, Thomas and Geneva McKee; and her beloved sisters, Fran McKee and Delores McKee Bradley, preceded her in death.
Her four children and her two granddaughters, whom she adored, survive her: Thomas L. Pritchett III, his wife, Connie, and their daughter, Samantha, Julia LaCroix “Cissy” Pritchett, Scott McKee Pritchett and Jennifer Pritchett Bush, and her daughter, Ann Leslie Bush. In addition, she loved her niece and nephews, Deborah Graham Logan, Mark Graham and Tommy Graham, like they were her own. She also held close to her heart aunts, cousins and other extended relatives from Lawrenceburg, Tenn. in the Lumpkins, Moore, and Parkes families.
Mrs. Pritchett was born in Florence, Ala. on Aug. 8, 1930, and was raised in a number of southern towns and cities while her father was a detective for Southern Railroad. These frequent moves gave her a graceful manner in developing friends and in making people feel comfortable, a character trait that permeated her life. She graduated from Brown “Girls” High School in Atlanta in 1948 and from Florence State Teachers College in 1952, where she and her sister, Delores, were majorettes in the marching band. After college, she taught junior high English and math in Gadsden, Ala. until she met and then married Dr. Tom Pritchett at Trinity Episcopal Church in Florence on June 21, 1953. In addition to her life as a devoted wife and mother, she was a former member of the Muscle Shoals District Service League and the Colbert County Medical Auxiliary.
God gave her a good sense of humor and a sharp wit. She was blessed with a strong creative streak and was an accomplished artist and painter. She was a talented seamstress who smocked dresses for her granddaughters, stitched exquisite needlepoint designs and loved knitting sweaters and throws for family and friends. She was a gourmet cook who also loved gardening and interior decorating. It was her natural warmth and ease with people, along with her wide variety of interests, that made “Miss Bobbi” (or “Bob” to a certain few), and her home on Park Boulevard, a special oasis to her family and friends, young and old alike, through good times or bad.
The family would like to express its profound gratitude to Dr. Robert Webb and the wonderful staff at Glenwood Healthcare, to the Rev. Rick Oberheide and the parishioners at Grace Episcopal Church and to Mrs. Pritchett’s special friends and companions, Annie Morris, Pearl Nunery and the late Octavia Vinson.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Grace Episcopal Church Youth Ministry.
