Jodie Reyner was a beautiful woman inside and out, her family and friends will tell you. But she was also bright, resourceful, optimistic, funny, playful and loving.
     In the final chapter of her life, Pick’s Disease may have chipped away at her life skills and persona these past several years, but it did not diminish her sweet and loving nature.
     That is what will be remembered most of all by those who knew and loved her and those who cared for her at Wesley Manor Retirement Home’s memory care unit the last 19 months of her life.
    Jodie, 77, passed away peacefully Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, at Wesley Manor in Dothan, Ala., with her husband Webb and daughter Charlotte holding her hands, just minutes after the stroke of midnight.
    Up until then though, she made the most of life. She was a young single mother working and living in Rome, Ga., when she met and married a Georgia Kraft electrician named Gene Atkins. After their daughter and son were born in the early 1960s, they were part of a wave of Rome families that transferred to Alabama Kraft when the new paper mill opened. So Eufaula, Ala.,is where they raised their children.
    Jodie’s joie de vivre was infectious. She enjoyed herself, whether spending time on the golf course or fishing with Tony or gallivanting around the country with Charlotte on one of their frequent mother-daughter road trips.
    Being a mother was one of Jodie's greatest joys, which was multiplied many times over by her nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
   Over the decades, Jodie made lasting friendships that she treasured. The group of fellow moms and kids that ventured to “The Shoe” in Panama City year after year, her fellow golfers, her real estate colleagues and her beloved Steel Magnolia-esque girlfriends, who continued to gather for birthday bashes for more than four decades. Later in life it was her Bible study and Republican women’s groups that filled her social calendar.
    After many years of marriage followed by divorce, Jodie was once again a single woman making her way on her own. Then she made a mid-life connection with the love of her life Webb Reyner. They married on Lake Eufaula, moved to Delaware for a stint and then returned south to Dothan’s Garden District, where they made a life together in real estate and community service for the past 20 years.
       Their church family at First Methodist became their foundation and has been a source of support and comfort, especially during the past five years of Jodie’s illness.
       The greatest comfort to her family is Jodie's Christian faith and salvation and the celebration of her homecoming to be with her Lord and Savior.
       Jodie was the second eldest of six children, born March 31, 1936, in Centre, Ala., to Bessie Phillips and William Thomas Eaves.
                  She is survived by her husband Webster C. Reyner of Dothan; her daughter Charlotte Atkins of Rome, Ga.; her son Tony Atkins (Traci) and grandchildren Lindsey, Claire and Mack, all of Eufaula; her son Michael Beck, granddaughter Jessica Sullivan and great-grandchildren Brooklyn, Brynna and Bryant, all of Villa Rica; her son Timothy Beck of Villa Rica and grandson Joseph; her stepdaughter Robin Walker Gibbons (Greg) of Cleveland, Ohio, and granddaughter Laine Walker of Chattanooga,Tenn.; her stepson Webster C. Reyner Jr. and grandchildren Kellie and Webster C. Reyner III, of Charlotte, NC; and her stepson Wayne Reyner (Vanessa) and granddaughter Virginia Ann of Daphne,  Ala.; her brother John Eaves of Rome, Ga.; her sister Faye Rhinehart of Rockmart,Ga.; her sister Bessie Lee Stover of Columbus, Ga; and brother Paul Eaves of Clarkesville, Tenn.

         She is also survived by her beloved yorkshire terrier family Champ, Jasmine, Paris and Savannah.

       A celebration of Jodie’s life was held Friday, Feb 21, at 11 a.m. (CST) at First Methodist Church, 1380 West Main St. in Dothan, Ala, 36303. The memorial will be preceded by visitation at 10 a.m. in the church’s parlor.
                In lieu of flowers, her family suggests that donations be made in Jodie’s memory to the Friends of Wesley Manor, 718 Honeysuckle Road, Dothan, AL 36305 to help to help others on their Alzheimer’s/dementia journey.
            Southern Heritage Funeral Home and Crematory and First Methodist Church in Dothan were in charge of arrangements.