Mary Margaret Leckenby Specker passed away peacefully before sunrise on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, after a brief illness. Born on March 30, 1942, she had turned 82 a few days earlier.
Mary Margaret was the second of six children born to John Francis and Catherine Leckenby of Florence. She attended St. Joseph Catholic School and graduated from Coffee High School with the Class of 1961. She married Lawrence Joseph Specker of St. Florian in 1968, a union that would last 55 years. She worked as an operator for South Central Bell until the arrival of their third son, at which point she became a full-time homemaker.
Homemaker is an understatement. Mary Margaret preserved the household wisdom, recipes, and best values of the past through rapidly changing times. As a parishioner at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in St. Florian she was active in church and community. She found a creative outlet in quilting and thoroughly enjoyed the companionship she found in two quilting societies, the Shoals Piecemakers and the Batting Brigade Quilt Guild. Her work included award-winning creations displayed at the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts.
She loved the bright colors of the fabrics she worked with and of the hummingbirds and finches that flocked to the feeders at her back porch. She delighted in the achievements of her grandchildren and in the latest photos of her great-granddaughters.
Mary Margaret was preceded in death by her older brother Henry (Sherry) Leckenby of Chattanooga, Tenn. She is survived by her husband, L.J. Specker; her sons, Lawrence F. (Melissa) Specker of Mobile, Christopher B. Specker of Opelika and Nicholas P. (Dana) Specker of Huntsville; four siblings, Barbara (Jim) Roberts of Mobile, Anna Leckenby of Mobile, Michael Leckenby of Florence and Stephen Leckenby of Huntsville; two grandchildren, Benjamin Specker and Taylor Able of Mobile; two great-granddaughters, Peyton Spahn and Lainey Coxwell; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be Benjamin Specker, Keith Leckenby, Sean Hancock, Rick Behel, Matt Cabaniss, and Matt Eckl.
Visitation will be Thursday, April 11, 2024 from 6-7:30 p.m. at St. Michael’s Catholic Church with the Rosary following. A Mass of Christian burial will be Friday, April 12, 2024 at 10 a.m. at the church with Abbot Cletus Meagher, O.S.B. officiating. The burial will follow in St. Michael’s Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Joseph School Foundation.
