Tabby Lynn Duty

Never regret a day in your life: good days give you happiness, bad days give experience, worst days give lessons, and best days give memories. Tabby Lynn Duty was born on March 2, 1963, at Georgia Baptist Hospital in Atlanta. From the onset, it could be said that she hit the ground running every day of her life. Life really handed her some challenges, but she had a knack for compartmentalizing so that the difficult segments of her life did not bleed over into the joyful, playful aspects of the life God gave her. Tabby was gifted with a sharp mind that launched her into successful careers, first, with Headley Construction in Newnan. She would later become an administrative assistant at Alabama and Georgia Power for over 20 years. She spent a total of over 30 years with The Southern Company. Tabby learned the fundamentals of her faith walk early in life. She, like many of the children whose older relatives worked in the textile mills of the time, sought guidance in their lives from the Arnco Baptist Church. Tabby had a deep and abiding faith in her creator. She found opportunities to serve when her children were younger teaching Sunday School and leading the AWANA groups. These opportunities to serve never took her far away from her most important mission – that of raising her children. She was a single parent for many of those years, but she always found a way to work her schedule so that she never missed an important event in their lives. Even as a grandmother, this same desire to be involved and supportive would at times lead her to a long drive to Ohio more than once a month to be the ever-present grandmother she wanted to be. Tabby faced life with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. Now mind you, that might be a favorite hymn, or it might be a Willie Nelson song. God gave her a special place in her heart for His four-legged creatures. She immersed herself in her volunteer work with pet rescue organizations. Her innately sunny disposition would come to serve Tabby well as she faced the greatest challenge of her life. Despite the cancer that plagued her body, she would never give up without a fight. Her natural survival instincts kicked in because she had a family to love and grandchildren that needed her undivided attention (could also be read “spoiling”). Up until the very end, Tabby would have crawled if necessary to see her grandchildren’s events. Just holding her head up could have been a problem, but she could still cheer them on heartily. The day came, though, that Tabby had to face the truth that her illness was not going in her favor. When faced with that inevitability, she did it bravely. All that mattered to her was that she wanted to leave this world, not in some hospital, but in her familiar surroundings with the people she adored around her. Prayers were prayed, songs were sung, and stories (true and not so true) were told as God granted her that last wish. On November 24, 2023, Tabby kept her last appointment as God reached down and gently lifted her from her bed, casting off all the sickness and trials of her life here on earth, she walked pain-free into the arms of all the family and friends who had preceded her in death. Surviving Tabby are her children Brittini Jeanine Roden (Bobby) and Robert Kyle Keahey (Kristina). Blessed to have had her for a grandmother are Brooklin Roden and Brynlee Roden. Her surviving siblings are Tara Dawn Green and Robby Lamar Duty. She surely honored her parents Robert and Jeanine Traylor Duty. Her grandparents, Lamar and Bernice Traylor were a significant part of her life and preceded her in death. Tabby’s life of love and service will be recalled with words and songs on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at 1:00 PM at her family’s home church, Arnco Baptist Church in Newnan GA.

Tabby Lynn Duty

March 2, 1963 - November 24, 2023