Martha Marie Pickle's Obituary
Martha Marie Biggers Pickle was born May 19, 1920 to M. Gilbert Biggers and Clara Gibson Biggers at Sylvan community, in eastern, rural Lamar County, TX. She grew up in Paris, TX and graduating from Paris High School, and known by the nickname “Itsy Bitsy Martha Marie, Pretty One Biggers.” While in high school, she joined some others in helping establish the Calvary Methodist Church. After high school, she worked as a clerk at the Kresses store and then took a position as the switchboard operator at the Gibraltar Hotel. When WWII broke out, she was dating Joseph R. (Joe) Pickle from rural Red River County, TX. They met at a church picnic and married on December 22, 1942. She was a switchboard operator at Camp Maxie. After Joe returned from the Army Air Corps, they bought a lot and built a home on 20th NE in Paris, while Joe finished his undergraduate and graduate degrees at East Texas State Teachers College in 1951. Other than a brief sidetrack where Joe worked for Red River Army Depot in 1953, Marie and Joe lived in several small towns in northeast Texas, including Lone Star Community, Hooks, Annona and Roxton, and moved to Garland with their family in 1957. Marie and Joe were active in the First Christian Church in Garland. She worked at Texas Instruments in quality control to help her “boys” get their degrees. Joe died in 1988 and Marie remained in Garland until 1998, when she moved to Temple, Texas. Marie is survived by her sons, Douglas Lynn Pickle, Ed D., and his wife, Jenny of Amarillo, TX and their children, Erin, Stacia and her husband Andrei Parfionov, and Jordan; her son, Jerry Richard Pickle, J.D. and his wife, Helen, of Temple, TX and their children, Jonathan and Sarah. She is also survived by nieces and nephews, Darlene Adams and Dennis Thomas, of Oklahoma, City, OK, Brenda Nolan of Alexander City, AL and Ron BIggers of Chattanooga, TN as well as a cousin, Visa Adams of Killeen, TX. Services will be held at 12:30PM, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at Restland Wildwood Chapel. Visitation is scheduled from 6-8PM, Monday at Restland Funeral Home. Donations may be made in memory of Marie to a charity of your choice.
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