Phoebe Lockwood

Phoebe Ryerson Lockwood, 93, passed away peacefully Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at her residence in Decatur, Georgia. Phoebe was born in New York City on October 23, 1931, grew up in Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida, went to Leon High and graduated from FSU.

She was a member of Tri Delta sorority where she developed friendships that lasted through the years. Her love of FSU football never ended a love that she shared with her dad and even after moving to Atlanta they wrote letters back and forth about each game. Her love of football widened to other sports and eventually became a bond that she had with her children and grandchildren.

After graduating from FSU, she taught Seminole Indian children for a time before moving to Atlanta. While working at Scripto, she met John Lockwood, and they were married within 6 months. This began one of the greatest love stories of the ages. They had 6 children over the next 7 years, beginning the family that became the first and foremost in her life. She continued doing lots of volunteer work and heading up committees, from being president of PTAs, to chairing Christmas at Callanwolde, to Tri Delta where she was Alum Advisor to the chapter at Emory and president of the Atlanta alumnae chapter, to being on the board of the civic association in her neighborhood, to president of the Garden Club in her neighborhood where she remained active until the end. She thrived on all of these volunteer roles. Her lifelong membership and friends in Tri Delta were so important to her.

Her favorite place was the beach and every summer; the car was loaded, and the family went to the Gulf for a week. Her idea of the beach was ... the beach. She taught the kids that vacation was not going anywhere but the beach, except the one afternoon they would drive to Captain Anderson's and the Miracle Strip. She loved the sand, she collected shells, she loved to watch for dolphins, and she loved the sunsets. The other vacation week was packing up the station wagon and camping and going somewhere educational - camping all the way to Maine and back, to Charleston, to Natchez, always balancing how many forts and ships with old houses.

After the kids were grown, she and John traveled everywhere with their close friends Bettie and Matt and Mary and Hugh, including train trips across Canada, Europe staying in hostels, river cruise in Europe and the Amazon, Machu Pichu, Russia, Portugal, and the US. Just a few years ago, she traveled with family on a cruise up the Hudson River visiting Sussex, NJ where her ancestors lived and she visited as a child, and then the Upper Mississippi visiting Field of Dreams!

Phoebe was the queen of the dollar store horn that called the kids home, "I am not a short order cook", chore charts, no television at all during the day only after supper, never wrapping a Christmas present until Christmas Eve, procrastinator deluxe, homemade lunches for all of the kids every day, the bolo paddle on top of the fridge, each kid had their own special new school year shopping trip and lunch, dinner at 9:00 PM, a sneeze that could wake the neighbors, and the maker of all the special days in the family.

The most important days of the year to her were birthdays and holidays. She made every one special. Birthdays are on a person's birthday and each kid got to pick their birthday dinner and cake. To this day, everyone gathers to celebrate birthdays. Christmas was top of her list - decorating, always a real tree, each year each kid got their own special ornament, one piece of tinsel on each branch, hanging stockings while each kid chose their favorite Christmas carol for all to sing (her favorite was "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day") ending with "Jingle Bells" sung for the dogs by barking... and then "Silent Night", Christmas morning with kids lined up youngest to oldest, huge stockings stuffed full of everything you could imagine, Christmas bread, presents galore, and then came the presents that hadn't gotten wrapped. Every Christmas was more than any kid could have wished for.

Phoebe was a woman before her time, a partner to John and the leader of the pack. She was brilliant and tough as nails, a force to be reckoned with. Her mind was sharp as a tack her entire life and she remembered literally anything and everything. She believed in holding hands and kissing in public. She and John had a lifelong love affair to which few can compare. They were role models by action and less by words and this was their legacy.

She is preceded in death by the love of her life, John Lockwood, and survived by her children Carol Lockwood Rice (David), Tom Lockwood (Amy), Alan Lockwood, Jim Lockwood (Dedra), Dorothy Lockwood Dillard (Randy), David Lockwood (Amanda); grandchildren Ryan Rice (Kelli), John Rice (Lauren), Thomas Lockwood (Anna), Daniel Lockwood, JP Lockwood, Elizabeth Lockwood, Evangeline Dillard, Ruby Dillard, Richie Dillard; great grandchildren Baxley Rice, Jackson Rice, and Phoebe Rice; and a host of nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM at A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home & Crematory, 2773 N. Decatur Rd. Decatur, GA 30033, with a reception to follow. A burial service will be held at Georgia National Cemetery on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at 10:00 AM as she joins her husband.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to WoodlandsGarden.org.