Laura Nelle Anderson O'Callaghan

Laura Nelle Anderson O'Callaghan died Sunday following a brief illness. Burial will be private in Riverside Cemetery. A memorial service will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Tuesday, May 19, 2009, at 5 PM. Following the service, the family will receive friends at the home of Denny and Sam Jones, 1193 Oakcliff Road. Born in Macon in 1910, daughter of Peyton Tooke Anderson and Nell Griswold Anderson, she attended local schools, Washington Seminary in Atlanta (now Westminster Schools) and graduated from Wesleyan College. Mrs. O'Callaghan was predeceased by her husband; Dennis Daniel (Dan) O'Callaghan, and brother, Peyton T. Anderson, Jr. Active in the civic and social life of Macon her entire life, she was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, The Macon Town Committee of the Colonial Dames, Junior League of Macon, and Jackson Springs Garden Club. She and her husband, Dan, were among the founders and charter members of the Macon Duplicate Bridge Club. She was a gourmet cook, talented arranger of flowers and gracious hostess whose home was always a center of social life where she entertained her guests with delicious food and a great sense of humor. Endowed with a keen intellect and possessing a progressive philosophy born of her life long association with her father, uncle, and brother, all publishers of the Macon Telegraph and News, she was also an avid reader. Among her favorite authors were Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Earnest Hemmingway and John Steinbeck. She is survived by her daughter, Denny O'Callaghan Jones, and son-in-law, Samuel P. Jones (Sambo) of Macon; three grandsons, Chovine Richardson (Chard) Rader, III of Athens, GA, Captain Samuel (Phillips) Jones, Jr., USMC, and his wife, Lauren, of San Diego, CA, and Anderson (Andy) O'Callaghan Jones of Washington, DC; nieces, Katherine Anderson of Carmel, CA and Deyerle Anderson of Asheville, NC; a great-niece and four great-nephews including Dr. R. Reid Hanson of Auburn, AL; Estella Colston, longtime helper and friend; and caregiver, Janice Gail. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to the Macon Duplicate Bridge Club, 1070 Southshore Place, 31204; the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, Inc., 277 MLK Jr. Blvd., Suite 303, 31201, for the benefit of our armed forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to the donor's favorite charity. Register online at www.hartsmort.com. Hart's Mortuary and Crematory, Cherry Street, has charge of arrangements.