Vivian Mize Tatum

Vivian Lee Mize Tatum, 85, passed away on May 9th 2013 after a long fight with Alzheimer's. She is preceded in death by her infant son, Dennis Edwin Tatum, and her parents, Ruby Jewel McGinnis Mize and Ernest Buford "Doc" Mize. She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Ira Willard Tatum, and her son Doyle Ira Tatum. Survivors also include her brother William Ray Mize (spouse - Shirley), her niece Gail Mize, her nephew Glenn Mize (spouse - Pam), and great nephews Jonathan Mize (spouse - Jennifer), Tyler Mize, and Trenton Mize. She had one great, great niece, Hailey Mize. Funeral services will be held Sunday, May 12, 2:00 PM at Northside Chapel Funeral Directors. Rev. Bethea Fielding officiating. Interment will follow at Union Hill Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends Saturday evening, 6-8 PM at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.com. Vivian was born on June 17th 1927 in Forsyth County. She graduated from High School in Cumming and has lived in Atlanta and Alpharetta. Vivian was an independent woman who loved her family and was loved by her family and friends. She will be greatly missed. Often people ask me how I became a collector of records. I have to blame it on my Mother. She was born Vivian Lee Mize near Cumming, Georgia in 1927. Her mom and dad were Ruby and Ernest (Doc) and her brother was Ray who later became a locally well known accomplished country music guitarist. Doc Mize was a farmer and it was all the chores and work in the fields that were mother’s worst memories of her childhood. She fondly remembers the rare trip to the store and getting a bag of candy for a penny and listening to the Grand Ole Opry, Saturday nights on the family radio. She graduated from Cumming High School and then their family moved just north of Alpharetta, Georgia. One of her biggest thrills came in 1942, at age 17 she took a Greyhound to Nashville, Tennessee to see the Grand Ole Opry in person. She stayed at the YWCA and hung out at Ernest Tubb’s Record Store during her week long vacation. Another fond memory was listening to the Louisiana Hayride radio show which featured some of her all-time favorites like Hank Williams and the Wilburn Brothers. In 1949, mother married my dad, Ira Tatum. He was just out of the Navy and working at Automobile Glass (which was located in the Varsity Drive-In parking lot in downtown Atlanta, Georgia). They got an apartment overlooking Spiller Field where the Class AA Southern Association Atlanta Crackers played baseball. They could sit on their balcony and watch the games. Mother had a job as a file clerk at Hartford Insurance and later at Sears (which is now the building called City Hall East and was across the street from the baseball field). With an income she started ordering 78’s from Ernest Tubbs Record Store. She ordered hundreds of 78’s and later started buying 45’s and LP’s at the downtown Sears where she worked. At age 32, she gave birth to me – Doyle Ira Tatum. My first name was from one of her favorite bluegrass duos, Teddy & Doyle Wilburn, The Wilburn Brothers. Mother also became obsessive with collecting Don Gibson music and memorabilia. She wrote to other collectors and exchanged information and materials as well as being the Georgia contributing editor in the Don Gibson Fan Club. She attended (me too) every Don Gibson appearance in the Atlanta area. In 1962, we moved back to Alpharetta, next door to her mom and dad. For many years mother stayed at home and occasionally substituted at the school and city library. My earliest memories of shopping for records was being extremely bored while mother searched the racks at Jim Salle’s Record Store in Buckhead (Atlanta). Without a steady record buying income, mother began filling her collecting needs in other ways. She would record her favorite songs off the radio with a reel to reel tape deck and then write out the lyric in shorthand, later typing and keeping them in three ring binders. Mother even bought her own copier to make duplicates without having to get to a library. She kept all of her collection on lists, not quite as organized as she would have liked, so there were always lists everywhere! Later, in the early 80’s as I got into computers, I created databases to keep her ever growing lists of music more organized. Mother loved to go to the movies with her favorites being the Disney movies, especially the animal ones narrated by Rex Allen. She always said that Gone with the Wind was her all-time favorite. She took me to see the Hank Williams Story: Your Cheatin’ Heart twice. She had some TV shows that she wouldn’t miss like: The Untouchables, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Dean, Glenn Campbell, Muppets, Dean Martin, Hee Haw, Dark Shadows, General Hospital and the Ed Sullivan Show. Mother not only collected music but had many other interests. She also traded Hawaiian quilt and bonnet patterns with folks around the world. She also loved dolls and doll clothes. She belonged to the doll of the month club and bought them at flea markets and yard sales. Baseball cards were also a passion with her cousin and Hall of Fame member, Johnny Mize, being one of her favorites. She read a lot of books and magazines but True Crime were her favorites. Being a fast reader she could go through a stack of books in no time. Her other favorite magazines were Movie and TV, Country Music, Song Lyrics and Woman’s Circle. In the 80’s mother got a job as a sales associate at K-Mart. This gave her extra cash that she spent mostly on Compact Discs, baseball cards and books. She always wanted to go on my record hunting trips. Her favorites were Wax’N’Facts, Turtles, Peaches, OZ, Tower Records, Book Nook, Oxford and Oxford Too. Mother always wanted me to collect records and was thrilled when I became interested in the Archies, Monkees, Beatles, Chicago, etc. In the 80’s I collected The Bangles and I could tell that even though she didn’t care about the band, she enjoyed the thrill of hunting down each item. Mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1999. Alzheimer's destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life. Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, and it is fatal. Today it is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. Sadly her memories have faded away, but her collecting passion lives on through me.

Vivian Mize Tatum

June 17, 1927 - May 9, 2013