Nioma Ruth Mcmahan

RISING FAWN, GA: Nioma Ruth (Steele) McMahan passed peacefully into the everlasting arms of Heaven in the early morning hours of December 22nd, 2015. She is survived by her four children, Bonnie Ellerbe of Valley Head, Alabama, Carl “Gene” McMahan of Chickamauga, GA, and Rebecca “Becky” Pennington and Thomas McMahan, both of New Salem, Rising Fawn, GA, as well as five granddaughters, Michelle White and Gretchen Phillips, both of Valley Head, Alabama, Kasha McMahan of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Rachel Smith of Trenton, Georgia, and Kamille Crowley of Big Fork, Montana, two grandsons, Dustin McMahan of Chickamauga, Georgia, Joseph Pennington of Bryant, Alabama, and one sister, Jo Ann Woodyard, of Rising Fawn.
Nioma was preceded in death by her husband, Carl Eugene McMahan, her parents, Carl and Dalpha (Riddle) Steele, three brothers – Ronald “Cubie” Steele of Rising Fawn, Carl Steele of Trenton, and David Steele, of Stevenson, Alabama, as well as one sister, Nancy Sisk of Cartersville, Georgia.
Nioma Ruth Steele was born in the community of Morganville, Dade County, Georgia, on July 19, 1932. The Steele family resided there until her seventh birthday, at which time they moved into what would become the Steele family home in Rising Fawn for the next 55 years. It was also around this time that Nioma began to play the piano, a talent and passion that would stay with her the rest of her life.
Nioma graduated from Dade County High School in 1950, among the last Georgia students who graduated from 11th Grade (12th Grade would be added to Georgia schools the following year.) A few years later, Nioma married Carl McMahan, also from Rising Fawn, on June 16th, 1953. As with many young people, both Carl and Nioma had their dreams – Carl dreamed of traveling the world, something he would do while serving in the United States Navy for 20 years, while Nioma dreamed of playing piano and raising a family. She was actually offered an opportunity to play piano in a band in the very early days of rock music, but she decided against it. Instead, she channeled her love of music into playing for her various churches she attended over the years, until age and arthritis made that impossible.
After a number of years traveling from Rhode Island to Virginia to Florida, a part of any Navy family’s life, the McMahan family returned to Georgia in the early 1960s, then upon our father’s retirement, the family moved back to Rising Fawn in 1965. Two years later, our family moved to Sand Mountain, from which the kids grew up and graduated high school, either at Davis or Northwest Georgia High, from 1972 through 1984.
Our family survived the sudden and tragic death of our father in 1981 from car accident, and over the years, we have stood by our mother during five separate bouts of cancer. Our mother made it through four of those, and became a source of strength and encouragement for numerous other cancer patients. When the fifth bout of cancer was diagnosed earlier in 2015, she made a decision to forego treatment, and faced it with the strength and dignity she had always possessed. She passed quietly and painlessly in her sleep at the Dade Health and Rehabilitation Center at the age of 83, and our family wishes to express our deepest gratitude to the staff and residents of that facility, who filled Mom’s final year of life with so much happiness. She will be missed by all who knew her, especially her family, who loved her deeply.
Funeral services will be held 11:00 AM EST Thursday, December 24, 2015 at the Trenton Chapel of Moore Funeral Home with Brother David Brown, Reverend Tommy Crider, and Brother David Hale officiating. Burial will follow in Hanna Cemetery.
Visitation will be Wednesday 5:00 PM ~ 8:00 PM; Thursday 9:00 AM ~ 11:00 AM
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.moorefuneralhometrenton.com .