Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Margaret Joye Bane Brown was born on May 3, 1936, in rural northeastern Covington County, Alabama.

She passed away on Feb. 16, 2022, in Andalusia. She was 85 years old. Ms. Brown was the oldest of five children born to Clarence Mixon Bane and Mary Ruth Eiland Bane. She was preceded in death by her parents, paternal grandparents John Bane and Celia Lavenia Cauley Bane, maternal grandparents Milton Eiland and Lorena Wyatt Eiland, sister Janice Bane Snyder, and son Paul Brown.

A 1954 graduate of Straughn High School, Ms. Brown served in the U. S. Air Force before becoming a wife and mother. She was stationed in Hawaii in the 1950s  and early 1960s.  From her base in Hawaii, she enjoyed military and leave time travels to Guam, Okinawa, Japan, and various smaller islands from Hawaii to Japan. Always eager to earn money and save, Ms. Brown often did ironing for officers and enlisted men. Fascinated by cigarette lighters from the 1940s and 1950s, she began a collection of dozens of the most fashionable ones, most unused, and given to her by air force men ranging from newly enlisted to high ranking generals at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. She always preferred cigarette lighters over money for her ironing. She was also stationed at three other air force bases – Lackland in Texas, Eglin in Florida, and Keesler in Mississippi.

In the early 1970s, Margaret went to nursing school and in 1973 she became an RN. She and her son moved to Andalusia in 1974. Her nursing career spanned 25 years until her retirement in 1998. She worked at the old Columbia General Hospital, Andalusia Hospital, and the Covington County Health Department. In 1983, she spent several months working at a newly opened hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There, in her off hours, she and her fellow American coworkers enjoyed trips into the Arabian Desert, camel rides, and shopping at local Arabian market places, always chaperoned by Saudi military men. A highlight of her Saudi Arabian trip was meeting King Fahd. The king and royal party toured the hospital and Margaret was assigned to give the royal party a tour of the ICU and to explain the work of its staff. At the end of her Saudi Arabian work, she and her fellow coworkers spent a week in London sightseeing and shopping.

In over 23 years of retirement, Margaret traveled more. Spring breaks and Christmas vacations for several years were spent traveling with her brother, sister, and aunt to such places as Natchez, Savannah, Charleston, Key West, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and many other southern places as well as a Western states trip and a return trip to Hawaii. Always proud of her native Alabama, she often took trips with various family members to Alabama points of interest. Wherever she traveled she was always proud to speak of Covington County, Opp, and Andalusia to people she met. When at home, she spent many happy hours with her two German shepherds, often taking long walks around town with the older Sheba. Her only firm final request was to be buried in a local Covington-made casket. Once asked after a cruise to the Bahamas about her love of travel, she remarked that she had seen a lot of places for a country girl from south Alabama.

A member of West Highland Baptist Church, Ms. Brown was a firm believer in tithing and helping others. She often gave to veterans’ causes and to those people she knew were in need. She never wanted anyone to know except the person she helped. As a nurse, she often gave her time to help those in need. Margaret was a rock in her family, always eager to lend a helping hand to her parents, grandmother Eiland, siblings, and extended family members.

Ms. Brown is survived by one brother, Marcel Bane, of Andalusia; two sisters, Lorena Bane Ruff, of Andalusia and Theresa Bane Moore of Opp; one brother-in-law, Thomas Snyder of Wetumpka; and several nieces and nephews. A private family burial will be at Mt. Gilead Cemetery near Rose Hill.

Those wishing to sign the online registry may do so at www.foremanfuneralhome.com.