Afton Minga

Mary Afton Weaver Minga, 85, of Iuka, Mississippi, died Friday, September 23, 2011, at the North Mississippi Medical Center in Iuka. Mrs. Minga was born March 31, 1926, to William and Ada Todd Weaver in Monroe County near Amory, MS. She accepted Christ as her savior at age 14, joined Amory Baptist Church, and was baptized there. She graduated from Amory High School in 1942, and moved to Memphis, TN, in 1944 to attend Draughon’s Business College. She married Thomas E. Minga of Memphis, TN, in 1945. She became involved in volunteer church library work in 1959, serving seven years as librarian at Eudora Baptist, and seven years at Second Baptist Church in Memphis. She also served as President of the Shelby County Baptist Library Association for four years. She served as Librarian of the Iuka Baptist Church for twenty-eight years. In l971 she and her husband bought property near Coleman State Park. In 1972, she and her husband were invited by Bro. Harris Counce, then pastor of Iuka Baptist Church, in establishing a summer mission, The Master’s Mount, adjacent to Coleman Park. She and her husband became directors of the Master’s Mount mission in 1973 and served in that capacity for 36 years. They moved permanently from Memphis to their Pickwick Lake home in 1976, at which time, they also moved their church membership to Iuka Baptist Church. Mrs. Minga served as Iuka Baptist Church’s librarian for 23 years. She organized the All-for-Christ Senior Adult Club at Iuka Baptist in 1984, and served as Tour Director for the Club for twenty-two years. In year 2003, her only novel Raindrops and Sawdust was published. The book is the story of a family living in Georgia during the Civil War era, which includes some actual historical events of her grandfather, Jonathan Criswell Todd and her grandmother, Missouri Palestine (Morris) Todd’s family during the Civil War. Visitation is scheduled for 5:00 until 8:00 p.m., Sunday, September 25, at Cutshall Funeral Home in Iuka. Funeral services are scheduled for 2;00 p.m., Monday, September 26, at the Iuka Baptist Church. The body will lie in state at the church for one hour prior to service time. Services will be officiated by Dr. Ronnie Hatfield, Bro. Mitch McNeese, and Rev. Todd Maino. Interment will follow in Oak Grove Cemetery. Pallbearers include Fred Truesdale, Glenn Ray Harris, Pete Walker, Earl Walker, Hosea Thorne, and David Thorne. Honorary Pallbearers include Doug Cutshall, Dr. Ben Kitchens, Art Gaines, and Randall Harbin. Cutshall Funeral Home of Iuka, MS is entrusted with arrangements. Survivors include her husband, Thomas E. Minga, Sr. of Iuka, MS; 1 daughter, Charlotte Maino Coone and husband, Cecil, of Byhalia, MS; 4 grandchildren, Todd Maino and wife, Jennifer, of Marianna, AR, Gretchen Maino Austin and husband, Brad, of Kansas City, MO, Thomas E. Minga, III of Collierville, TN, and Thomas Ross Maino of Memphis, TN; and 10 great-grandchildren, Kaila Maino, Hannah Grace Austin, Cayson Maino, Griffin Maino, Aubrey Austin, Natalia Maino, Karis Maino, Ollie Maino, Italee Austin, Mylan Maino, and one great-grandchild on the way.. She was preceded in death by her son, Thomas E. Minga, Jr. Memorials may be made to the Iuka Baptist Church Library.