Mrs. Marie Higgins Mullen, age 94, of Cedartown passed away quietly at her home on Friday, February 7, 2025 surrounded by her loving family.
Marie was born March 28, 1930 in Rome, Georgia to Fred Clay Higgins, Sr. and Azzie Reeves Higgins. She joined her older brother, Fred Clay Higgins, Jr., to complete the family.
Marie attended Rome Girls High School where she excelled academically and was the head majorette for the marching band. After high school she enrolled at Duke University but eventually returned to Rome, finishing her undergraduate degree at Shorter College. She worked in the offices of attorney Griffin Bell (later US Attorney General) and Dr. Tom Harbin.
She was predeceased by her parents, her brother, her nephew Fred Clay “Trip” Higgins III and her son-in-law, J. Scott “Scotty” Tillery.
Mrs. Marie Mullen is survived by her husband, Mr. W. Fairfax Mullen; daughters Mrs. Ann Marie Tillery and Dr. Eve Mullen (Florian Pohl); grandsons Mr. Russell Tillery (Erika Vance Tillery) and Mr. Clayton Tillery; and great-grandsons Rhett Mullen Tillery and Tyson Beckett Tillery. Several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great nephews also survive.
The Higgins family owned and operated a successful business in Rome for many years, Higgins Shoe Store. The store’s marketing slogan was “Always a Step Ahead,” a playful theme that also characterized Marie’s life. She was always a step ahead caring for Fairfax (preparing a cooked lunch every day); mothering Ann Marie and Eve as Scrabble partner, chef, seamstress, and confidante; and busying herself as a gardener, pianist and artist.
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She enjoyed the next stages of her life as a grandmother and great-grandmother. She was “Two-Mom” to Russell and Clayton and passed on her love of nature, walking with them outside in the spring to point out the flowers as they broke through the earth and identify the songs of the birds for them.
Those closest to her said the following about her: She was beautiful throughout her life. She was hard-working and well-read. She loved the beach and spent some of the happiest times of her life in the Mullen seasonal home on Longboat Key with her family.
Marie was a woman without guile or pretense. She was authentic, accepting people for who they were. She suffered no fools. According to her family, she could be extraordinarily nurturing one moment and tough in the next. She selflessly served her family, friends and neighbors.
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Graveside services for Mrs. Marie Higgins Mullen will be held on Friday, February 14, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at the Mullen plot in Northview Cemetery. Reverend Britt Madden, Jr. will officiate, and members of the family will share thoughts.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials in Marie’s name be made to a church or charity of one’s choice.
Smith & Miller Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Mrs. Marie Mullen.
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