Martha Faye (Shackelford) Griffin

In Loving Memory of Martha Faye Shackleford Griffin

October 19, 1943 – July 3, 2025

Faye Shackleford Griffin, age eighty-one, passed peacefully from this life on Thursday, July 3, 2025. Born on an autumn day, October 19, 1943, in Columbus, Georgia, she was the cherished daughter of William Horace Shackleford and Mamie Adams Shackleford, both of whom preceded her in death.

Faye’s life was a patchwork of perseverance, laughter, and unyielding devotion to family. Her life was a quilt stitched together with stories told over coffee, casseroles baked with care, and long afternoons spent tending to her flowers or scouting out treasures at flea markets and yard sales. She had a heart as wide as the Chattahoochee and a humor as sharp as a porch swing creaking under the Southern moonlight.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Oliver Dee “OD” Griffin, whose memory she held close, and by her son, Randall Anthony Duncan, whose absence she bore with a quiet and constant ache.

Those who remain to remember her are many, and each carries a piece of her bright and unyielding spirit. She is survived by her son, Tommy Steven Duncan and his wife Terri, and her daughter, Stacy Duncan Akin and her husband Andy. Her grandchildren: Tyler Duncan, Ryan Duncan, Jeremy Duncan, Kevin Duncan, Hollie Duncan Brichant, Ashton Lord Collins, Fischer Lord, Kaylee Akin, and Karlee Akin Lambert; each knew the particular joy of being doted on by a grandmother who could make even a Tuesday supper feel like a holiday. Her growing tribe of great-grandchildren will one day hear stories of her strength and sparkle, of how she told the best tales and played the best tricks, and how she loved them even before they were born.

Faye is also survived by her sister, Ann Shackleford Newton, whose shared memories reach back to childhood summers, fireflies, and secrets kept between sisters.

Faye was a long-standing member of Centre First United Methodist Church, where she found joy in the rhythms of faith, fellowship, and familiar hymns. For over two decades, she worked at Belk Department Store and other places where she was known for her keen eye, dependable spirit, and easy conversation.

Faye delighted in the ordinary glories of life. She is lovingly remembered for turning dirt into bloom in her garden, finding forgotten treasures at a bargain, and fussing in the kitchen until her family was fed, full, and feeling loved. No holiday passed without decoration or cheer; Christmas transformed her home into a glowing wonderland that mirrored the warmth she extended year-round. Faye had a gift for practical jokes that were never mean and were always memorable. She never missed a chance to gather friends and family together for food, stories, and laughter that lingered long after the dishes were done.

But more than anything else, Faye loved being a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother. She would talk about her children and grandchildren to anyone who’d listenat the grocery store, in the waiting room, or passing on the sidewalk. Her family was her crown, and she wore it with joy.

A visitation will be held in her honor on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the chapel of Good Shepherd Funeral Home, from 2:00PM till the funeral service hour at 4:00PM, time set aside not just for sorrow, but for the sweet sharing of memories and Martha’s many legacies of love. A private graveside service will take place at Oaknoll Memorial Gardens at a later date, with Randy Lambert officiating. Her grandsons will serve as pallbearers, a gesture both solemn and proud.

Good Shepherd Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements, and the family invites all who knew and loved Faye to come, remember, and celebrate a life lived fully, fiercely, and fondly.

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