She was a lifetime resident of Georgia until she moved to Orlando in 2004 to live with her daughter, Marie. Erma was born in Manchester, Georgia on August 29, 1920 to Alex Crofford and Olive Hutto Brooks. Her family moved to the area surrounding Tift County, Georgia in about 1925, where she was raised.
After graduating from high school, she opened her own beauty parlor in Tifton. She met the love of her life, Frank Bliss Lanneau, Jr. from Ashburn, during beauty school training. In 1940, she and Frank married and moved to Macon, Georgia where they raised three children; Frank Bliss Lanneau, 111, Joyce Marie Lanneau (Marie Lanneau Stepter) of Orlando, and Janet Kay Lanneau (Kay Lanneau Putnal) of Macon. Her husband and son predeceased her.
Erma worked at the Independent Laundry in Macon, as an insurance agent for Life & Casualty Insurance Company, a school crossing guard, and in many delivery and sales jobs.
As a result of her blindness and advanced illnesses, she had to sell the house in Macon where she had lived for 57 years move to Orlando. Her heart however never left Georgia.
Erma was a devout Christian and an active member of Cherokee Heights Baptist Church. Erma's life revolved around her family and she had a keen interest in family history.
In the 1980's, she joined the Mormon Church which emphasizes family history in its teachings. Her first major family history project involved the Dame Family of her mother. After more than 20 years, she was successful in convincing the State of Georgia to erect a historical marker to Dame's Ferry and name a school and park after the Dame Family. Erma also authored a comprehensive book on the family history of her father, James Alex Brooks, his parents and their descendants.
Erma is survived by her daughters, their husbands, Charles R. Stepter, Jr. and Stephen S. Putnal, and her beloved cats, Eddie and Cindy.
She will be remembered as someone who was a guiding presence in many people's lives, who always put others before herself with unconditional love.
Published in the Orlando Sentinel on 10/22/2007.
She was a lifetime resident of Georgia until she moved to Orlando in 2004 to live with her daughter, Marie. Erma was born in Manchester, Georgia on August 29, 1920 to Alex Crofford and Olive Hutto Brooks. Her family moved to the area surrounding Tift County, Georgia in about 1925, where she was raised.
After graduating from high school, she opened her own beauty parlor in Tifton. She met the love of her life, Frank Bliss Lanneau, Jr. from Ashburn, during beauty school training. In 1940, she and Frank married and moved to Macon, Georgia where they raised three children; Frank Bliss Lanneau, 111, Joyce Marie Lanneau (Marie Lanneau Stepter) of Orlando, and Janet Kay Lanneau (Kay Lanneau Putnal) of Macon. Her husband and son predeceased her.
Erma worked at the Independent Laundry in Macon, as an insurance agent for Life & Casualty Insurance Company, a school crossing guard, and in many delivery and sales jobs.
As a result of her blindness and advanced illnesses, she had to sell the house in Macon where she had lived for 57 years move to Orlando. Her heart however never left Georgia.
Erma was a devout Christian and an active member of Cherokee Heights Baptist Church. Erma's life revolved around her family and she had a keen interest in family history.
In the 1980's, she joined the Mormon Church which emphasizes family history in its teachings. Her first major family history project involved the Dame Family of her mother. After more than 20 years, she was successful in convincing the State of Georgia to erect a historical marker to Dame's Ferry and name a school and park after the Dame Family. Erma also authored a comprehensive book on the family history of her father, James Alex Brooks, his parents and their descendants.
Erma is survived by her daughters, their husbands, Charles R. Stepter, Jr. and Stephen S. Putnal, and her beloved cats, Eddie and Cindy.
She will be remembered as someone who was a guiding presence in many people's lives, who always put others before herself with unconditional love.
Published in the Orlando Sentinel on 10/22/2007.
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