Martha Nell McGill Patterson

Martha Nell McGill Patterson passed away peacefully in her sleep at home on April 25, 2026, in Rockwood, TN. The funeral service will be Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 2:00 P.M. at New El Bethel Baptist Church with Rev. Bobby Snow officiating. Visitation will be Tuesday, April 28, 2026, from 4:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. at Waller Funeral Home and again prior to the service beginning at 1:00 at the church. Burial will follow the service in New El Bethel Cemetery.

Affectionately known as Mama Nell to her family, she was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend. Nell was born at home in Potlocona, MS on July 20, 1933, and she lived there for most of her life. After graduating from Bruce High School and Wood Junior College, she worked for the telephone company in Oxford. On January 2, 1960 she married Travis Patterson and moved to Mobile, AL where he worked. After a couple of years, they moved back to Potlocona to farm.

Nell was a devoted mother to their three children, Kevin, Carol, and Martha, and an excellent homemaker who made sure everyone was well fed and felt loved. Her love for Jesus was apparent in her daily life as she sang hymns around the house and used them as lullabies. She was a dedicated member of the churches she attended, serving as MYF leader for Shady Grove Methodist Church as a young adult and later as VBS director, WMU leader, and song leader at New El Bethel Baptist Church where she attended for most of her life. We all praise God for her impact in our lives.

As Kevin, Carol, and Martha became adults and the family began expanding, she welcomed each new addition and made each one feel loved and special. In 2019, she and Travis moved to Rockwood, TN to be with Martha and her husband, Eric. Travis passed a few months later after almost sixty years of marriage. After Martha passed in 2023, Eric reaffirmed his commitment to make sure Mama Nell felt comfortable in her home away from home. For the past three years, Mama Nell has been lovingly cared for by Eric and his wife, Carissa. Nell made her last visit to her beloved home in Potlocona in the summer of 2024, where her heart never left. She often reminisced about her early life there, and she loved to recount the stories as pictures from the past scrolled across her digital photo frame.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Raymon and Mattie McGill, her husband, Travis Patterson, and her youngest daughter, Martha Thompson. Nell is survived by her son, Kevin Patterson (and Kristie), her daughter Carol Turberville (and Chris), her son-in-law Eric Thompson (and Carrisa), and eight grandchildren (Jesse, Alexander, Emily Rose, Ethan, Matthew, Robby, Andrew, and CC).

Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Nell’s memory may be made to New El Bethel Cemetery Fund, 155 CR 488, Oxford, MS 38655.