Mattie Faye Prater's Obituary
Mattie Faye Prater, age 89 of Centerville, Iowa, went home to be with the Lord on Friday, May 08, 2015, while a resident at the Centerville Nursing and Rehab Center.
Mattie was born September 3, 1925, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the daughter of James and Jennie (Holm) Whittington. She was raised with four siblings, including her sister, Jennie, brothers, Oran, her twin brother James Raye, and Jesse. Mattie graduated from Fairpark High School in 1942. She began working as a telephone operator for the Southern Bell Telephone Company in Atlanta, Georgia. While attending the Fairpark Christian Church, she met a young, singing evangelist by the name of Merle Prater from Cowden, Illinois. They were united in marriage on August 26, 1948, and to this union, three children were born, Merla, Philip, and Camilla.
Not long after their wedding, Mattie and Merle returned to live on the family farm in Illinois. The Prater family eventually relocated to Eaton, Ohio in 1956. While residing in Ohio, Mattie was a farm wife and active in the Church of Christ as both a Sunday school teacher and church pianist. In March of 1968, the Prater family moved to their farm west of Moravia, Iowa.
God was the center of Mattie's life. She always loved her church family, including the Promise City Church of Christ, the church they began attending upon their arrival to southern Iowa. Mattie was a kind and caring person, always there for others during a time of need.
In her free time, Mattie enjoyed numerous hobbies, including gardening, sewing and cooking. She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. In 2004, Merle and Mattie left the family farm and moved to Centerville.
Mattie was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Jennie; three brothers, Oran, James Raye-her twin, and Jesse; and daughter-in-law, Sharon Prater.
She is survived by her loving husband of sixty six years, Merle Prater of Centerville, Iowa; daughter, Merla Schmell and husband, Ernie of Seymour, Iowa, son, Philip Prater and wife, Tammy of Exline, Iowa, and daughter, Camilla Williamson and husband, Tom of Albia, Iowa; seven grandchildren; and twelve great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM, Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at the Lange Funeral Home in Moravia, Iowa, with Andrew Pratt officiating. Interment will follow in the Salem Cemetery, west of Moravia. A visitation will be held at the Lange Funeral Home in Moravia on Monday from 10 AM-8 PM, with the family greeting friends from 6-8 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established to either the Promise City Church of Christ or to Care Initiatives Hospice-Albia and may be given to Lange Funeral Home. Online condolences may be shared at www.langefh.com.
Visitation
May 11, 2015 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Lange Funeral Home 103 North Johns St. Moravia, IA (641) 724-3413
Funeral Service
May 12, 2015 10:30 AM
Lange Funeral Home 103 North Johns St. Moravia, IA (641) 724-3413
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