Helen Cawthon Marchant

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA AND ROSINVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA - Helen Marie Cawthon Marchant, 96, of Savannah, Georgia, and formerly of Rosinville, South Carolina, widow of Louis Byrd Marchant and mother of Wayne Marchant and his wife, Brenda, died Thursday evening, December 24, 2009, at Hospice Savannah.
Helen Marie Cawthon Marchant was born on May 17, 1913, in Lavonia, Georgia to Scotch-Irish parents John Randolph and Addie Bell Gordon Cawthon, who gave her 9 brothers and sisters.  At the age of 19 she met and married Louis Byrd Marchant and moved to the Rosinville, S. C. community where she lived for more than 70 years.  At the age of 90 she gave up her driver's license and moved into the Marsh View Senior Living, a retirement facility in Savannah, Georgia.  "This is home, and I want to spend the rest of my days here."
Those who were close to her knew that she had the memory of an elephant, the independence of a cat and the determination of a bull.  Her best friends also knew that she loved reading, writing and reciting poetry and only a few days ago she recited The Ode to Christmas, a favorite poem she memorized by the fireplace at the age of 6. In younger days she was a high school cheerleader who could still recite the LHS cheers and school songs.  She was a dare devil who, in 1922, flew in one of the first private airplanes at the age of 9 and when her father bought a new car she became the family chauffer at the age of 13.  She was a great story teller, especially grand old tales about growing up in the foothills of beautiful Franklin and Hart counties Georgia where she was crowned Miss Hart County.  She was a life-long Republican and was very proud of the pictures she had taken with President Bush.  She loved studying her bible and serving her church in many ways for many years, especially teaching young church school children.
She survived her husband, parents and eight brothers and sisters.  She is survived by her daughters Margie Marchant of Pearland, Texas; Bertie and her husband Dewey Williams of Fletcher, N. C.; Bonnie and her husband Jerome Connelly of Vance, S. C.; Janelle and her husband Edward Reifsnyder of Arlington, Texas; and by "my boys" Herbert Marchant of Orlando, Fla. and Wayne Marchant and his wife Brenda of Savannah, Georgia.  She had 17 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren.  She is also survived by her sister Geneva Tunstall of Laurens, S. C.
On Christmas Eve she went to sleep to rest until our Lord comes to take her home.  We all look forward to that wonderful reunion.
The family will receive friends from 5 until 7 o'clock Monday at Bryant Funeral Home in St. George, South Carolina.
The funeral service will be held at 11 o'clock Tuesday morning at the graveside, Harleyville Southern Methodist Cemetery, in Harleyville, South Carolina.
Remembrances:  Hospice Savannah - Post Office Box #13190, Savannah, Georgia 31416-0190.