TRENTON Ga.--Local journalist Myrna Renfroe McMahan, 87, of Trenton, died peacefully at Dade Health & Rehab on Sunday, November 13, 2016.
She is survived by her children, Lindsay Fussell, Mike (Phyllis) McMahan, Alex McMahan and Laura (Steve) Wilson; sisters, Patsy McKaig and Peggy DeWine; nine grandchldren, five great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Grace Tate Renfroe and Thomas Shadrick Renfroe; brothers, Robert Renfroe and Kelly Renfroe; and grandson, John Michael McMahan Jr.
Born Oct. 9, 1929, in Summerville, Ga., Myrna was the first of five children. She graduated from Dade County High School and attended the University of Chattanooga Myrna married Asa Leonard (Sonny) McMahan in 1947 and the couple raised their four children in the home they built in Trenton.
At age 14, Myrna began a lifelong career in journalism when she began writing special interest stories for the Dade County Times, where she later served as editor and then publisher. At UC, she wrote for the University Echo, the school newspaper.
In 1958, Myrna co-founded The Nickajack News, a local weekly newspaper, with her friend and fellow journalist, Brownie Stephens. She joined The Dade County Sentinel in 1972 as news editor and was later named editor in chief.
After moving to Chattanooga, she worked at The Chattanooga Times, where she served as a women’s news writer and contributed to The Catoosa County News. Myrna later covered Northwest Georgia as a correspondent for the Chattanooga Times-Free Press until her retirement in 2006.
Myrna was the recipient of the 1976 Liberty Bell Award from the Georgia State Bar Association in honor of “her many unselfish contributions to her community.” She received the 1983 Georgia Association of Educators School Bell Award for outstanding reporting of events and issues impacting public schools.
Myrna was a charter member of the Dade County Development Corporation and served as chairperson of the advisory council of the Northwest Georgia Health Center as well as an advisory board member of the Northwest Georgia Regional Psychiatric Hospital. She was a member of the Seventh District of Congressional Advisory Committee and vice president of The Dade, Walker, Catoosa and Chattooga County Mental Health Association. She was a past member of the Trenton Garden Club and Trenton United Methodist Church.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the chapel of Moore Funeral Home with Rev. John Smith officiating. Interment will be held in Lake Hills Memorial Gardens.
Visitation will be held Tuesday 6-8 p.m. and Wednesday 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.moorefuneralhometrenton.com.
Arrangements by Moore Funeral Home, Trenton.
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