Margaret P. Bledsoe passed from this world into the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ on April 7, 2023, at Northbrooke Healthcare and Rehab. after a lengthy illness.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph and Virginia Petty, her husband Charles “Buddy” Bledsoe, Jr. and a grandson Markus Benjamin Baker.
She is survived by a brother, Ralph B. Petty, Jr. (Barbara) of Oxford, MS, her three children, Sandra Jones Baker of Collierville, TN; Stacy Jones Raines (Walter) of Jackson, TN; AW “Winford” Jones, Jr. (Kathy) of Guadalajara, Mexico, along with ten grandchildren, fourteen great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
Margaret was born in Greenwood, MS, where she attended high school at Greenwood High School. She went on to attend Sunflower College (which is now Mississippi Delta Community College) in Moorhead MS, where she was a cheerleader. She also attended Jackson State Community College and the former Lambuth University in Jackson, TN as an adult.
She started her employment career at an early age working in multiple positions that included secretary/teller of Union Planters Bank, executive secretary and bank hostess at First Tennessee Bank, education secretary at Englewood Baptist Church, secretary at Credit Adjustment Bureau, a store owner with her husband Buddy, executive secretary at Copeland Electric, and Credit and Collection Manager at Eye Clinic PC.
She was a member of the Jackson Chapter of the Professional Secretaries Association, The International Jackson Legal Secretaries Association and was a past President of the Jackson chapter of Credit Professionals and a past President of the Southern Regional Chapter of Credit Professionals. She also implemented and taught a Budgeting class at Jackson State Community College to students sent by the Bankruptcy Court of Jackson Madison County.
Margaret was a very active member of the Col. Potter Cairn Terrier Rescue group, while she was physically able, where she vetted applications for fostering and adoptions. She adopted multiple fur babies herself including Precious, Maggie Mae and Jamie Rae. Her last rescues were two Maltipoos from a local veterinary office in Jackson, whom she named Jack and Jill.
The work she was most passionate about was her work for the Lord. She was an active member of the Englewood Baptist Church since 1968, where she was the first teacher of the Young Couples Class, established and volunteered with the intercessory prayer team, participated and became a certified counselor for the Christian Witness training, was a counselor during the Billy Graham Crusade when Dr. Graham was in Memphis, TN, and went on a mission trip to Tucson, AZ.
To honor Margaret’s life the family will be receiving friends on Friday, April 12, 2024, beginning at 11:00 a.m. and continuing until 1:00 p.m. with the funeral service to follow in the chapel of Arrington Funeral Directors with Mr. Mike Steinbach officiating. A private family committal will follow the service.
In Lieu of flowers the family is requesting that donations be directed to Col. Potter Cairn Terrier Rescue online at www.cairnrescue.com, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or online at www.stjude.org, the Wounded Warrior Project, 223 Rosa L. Parks Ave., Suite 301, Nashville, TN 37203 or online at www.woundedwarrierproject.org or the charity of your choice.
Arrington Funeral Directors, 148 W. University Parkway, Jackson, TN 38305
