Margarette Murphy Ligon Sigman

Margarette Murphy Ligon Sigman transitioned from this life on Monday, March 21, 2022, at home in Cumming, GA, with loving family, friends, and her beloved rescue dogs Buddy and Dandy by her side. Her Celebration of Life will be 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Ball Ground Botanical Garden (https://www.ballgroundgardenclub.com/ball-ground-botanical-garden) where we will enjoy her favorite foods – cookies and ice cream. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Humane Society or a local animal shelter. She was cared for in cremation by Ingram Funeral Home where you can express condolences and share memories at ingramfuneralhome.com.

Born Emma Margarette Murphy in the heart of the Great Depression on December 5, 1930, in Tulsa, OK, she was a true survivor with a patriotic streak a mile wide. The daughter of a World War I Purple Heart veteran, she was also a Blue Star wife (Korea), mother (Vietnam and other conflicts), and grandmother (Iraq, Afghanistan). As the daughter of a Freemason, she was an active member of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls.

A Master Gardener, Maggie will probably be best remembered for her deep love of gardening. If it was daylight, she was working in her yard cultivating all kinds of beautiful flowers, shrubs, and trees, along with a variety of potted plants throughout her home.The Mayor of Warner Robins even stopped once to compliment her on her garden, and the city awarded her Yard of the Month. She took great delight in nature. Second only to gardening, was her love of all animals, especially dogs, horses, and birds. Her cherished dogs were always with her.

At Will Rogers High School in Tulsa (Class of 1948), Margarette was active in the chorus and the Civil Air Patrol where she developed an avid love for airplanes, even learning to fly a twin-engine. That love for flight later drew her to work at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, GA, for the bulk of her career as a secretary-stenographer. No one could do shorthand like “Maggie” as she came to be known.

A strong, vital woman, she gave birth to all four of her children at home with the help of a Christian Science nurse and practitioner. While not infallible, she had deep spiritual convictions and knew the true Source of her strength and all good things in her life. A lifelong Christian Scientist, she attended 1st Church of Christ, Scientist, in Tulsa as a child, was an active member of the Christian Science Society of Warner Robins, and enjoyed visiting other Christian Science churches in the Macon and Atlanta, GA, areas.

She appreciated the fine arts and had an eclectic love of music. She was an early member of the Warner Robins Community Chorus and the Warner Robins Art Association where she founded the first Children’s Art Gallery and annual competition at the Old Train Depot. Never afraid to stand up for what she felt was right or to question the status quo, she often wrote editorials to local newspapers and letters to Congress.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Edna Ruby (nee Van Brunt) and John Augustus Murphy (Tulsa, OK), and sister, Joan Augusta Eaton (Massachusetts). She is survived by her children, Renee Margarette Ligon (Kathleen, GA), Michael Richard Ligon (Arizona), Rhea Catherine Williamson (Douglasville, GA), and Mary Elizabeth Martz (Ron – Cumming, GA); her grandchildren, Keith Haynie (Warner Robins), Kim Baker (Johnny – Warner Robins), Richard Haynie (Warner Robins), Holly Kirkpatrick (Henry – Perry, GA), Dennis Newberry III (Kelley – Roswell, GA), Sean Ligon, Lauren Ligon, Brian Ligon, Aaron Ligon, Joshua Warren (Annah – Atlanta, GA), Morgan Warren (Cumming, GA); her sister, Edna Renee Murphy (Raleigh, NC); and numerous great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews