Murille Lucille Wright

• Murille Eberhart (Toni) Wright, April 12, 1919 to September 13, 2019. Toni was born in Madison County, GA to Mary Evelyn (Reece) Eberhart and Henry Carlton Eberhart. She was the middle child, with older an brother J. Frank Eberhart, (died 1978) and younger sister, Frances Eberhart (Fleming), (died 1995.). She was a sickly child, having survived rheumatic fever at age 7, which left her with an enlarged heart and lifelong cardiac problems. Her doctor advised her mother that she would probably not live to be 9 years old, but she beat the odds and lived a full and productive life. She graduated from University High School, Athen, GA, and attended Draughn’s Business College in Atlanta, GA. During WWII, she worked in the Personnel Department at the Bell Bomber Plant in Marietta, GA, and later worked for Walter Rich, at Rich’s Department Store in Atlanta. In 1947, she met and married William H. Wright, who had just been honorably discharged from the U.S. Army. Their only child, Judith Evelyn Wright (Burns) was born in 1948. They lived their entire married lives in the Atlanta area, where she was a stay at home mother for a number of years, until taking a position with United Inns at Holiday Inn, NW and subsequently at Holiday Inn in Marietta, where she retired in 1980. She became interested in gardening during the early years of her marriage, and was heavily involved in several garden clubs and plant societies over the next 60 years. She served in many capacities, including President of the Georgia Hosta Society, and as a board member of The American Hosta Society. She was most proud of having founded the Dixie Regional Hosta Society. Her garden was on the American Hosta Society Tour in 1994, where she won the Harshbarger Award for Landscape Design and the Lucille Simpers Award for Best Blue Hosta. She loved hostas, Japanese maple, ferns, day lilies, iris, conifers and perennials and often gave talks for garden groups to help promote the love of gardening in others. After Bill’s death in 2000, she sold the Decatur home and garden that they had created and enjoyed for over 37 years, and moved to a different house in nearby, where she soon established a new garden, which was also featured on several tours for the Georgia Hosta Society and the Georgia Perennial Plant Association. In 2012, she and Judy moved to Huntington, West Virginia, to be closer to her great-granddaughters. Once there, she immediately started a new garden, featuring conifers and perennials. In 2016, at the age of 96, she and Judy followed their family to Montevallo, Alabama, where, she started yet another garden, and put her prodigious talents to work building a beautiful garden in her newest location. For many years, she was a tireless worker at Westminister Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, where she served as President of the Women of the Church. Later, she was a faithful member of the First Presbyterian Church, Tucker, GA, and subsequently of Shallowford Presbyterian Church, Atlanta. She practiced her faith daily and continued her friendships with her church friends until her death. Toni was a human dynamo who refused to let poor health and advancing age slow her down much. She continued to be an inspiration to all who knew her. Always a “people person”, she never failed to recognize birthdays and anniversaries with cards sent to commemorate the event. Her love of gardening brought her into contact with hundreds of like-minded gardeners during her travels. She knew the names of all of her plants and enjoyed discuss gardening (or politics) with anyone she met. She especially loved her family and enjoyed cooking holiday meals, which always included her famous “cornbread dressing.” She thought nothing of throwing a party for 40 or 50 people and took pride in preparing the food and decorations herself. She died at the age of 100 years and five months, following a rapid decline in her health, which she fought valiantly. She was predeceased by her parents, brother and sister, and husband, as well as by her greatly loved nephews, Joseph K. Eberhart, McDonald, TN, and Terry D. Fleming, Cleveland, GA. Toni is survived by her daughter, Judith Wright Burns, Montevallo, Al; her granddaughter, Mary Ellen Burns Heuton, and her husband Paul, of Montevallo, Al and by her grandson Patrick Robert Burns, and his wife, Sandy Hughes Burns, of San Jose, CA She is also survived by the “lights of her life”, great-granddaughters, Abigail Heuton, and Sarah Heuton, Montevallo, AL, and great-grandson, Logan Robert Burns, San Jose, CA. Additionally, she is survived by her beloved nieces and nephews: Teresa Eberhart Gaddis, Ooltewah, TN; Telia Fleming Hanks, Loganville, GA and Donna Brock Eberhart, McDonald, TN; Tim (Cheryl) Fleming, Cumming, GA, and Buck (Janine) Eberhart of Grayson, GA, and several great nieces and nephews, and a host of friends across the country. Funeral Services will be held at the Chapel of A. S. Turner & Sons, Decatur, GA, at 1:00 pm on Friday, September 20, 2019. Visitation will begin at 11 am. Dr. William Carr will officiate. Internment will be at Melwood Cemetery, Stone Mountain, GA.