08/21/2026
Mattie Lou Fortberryman
Mattie Lou Fortberryman, age 69, of Crandall, Georgia, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, August 20, 2026.
Mattie was born March 14, 1957, in Murray County, Georgia, the daughter of the late Virgil and Edna Mae Patterson. She was a lifelong resident of the Crandall community and a longtime member of Greater Abernathy Pentecostal Tabernacle.
Mattie was a woman who enjoyed the simple pleasures of life: visiting with family, working in her flower beds, attending church, keeping up with the neighbors, and ordering things she absolutely did not need from the TikTok Shop. If Mattie saw a product advertised three times in one evening, she considered that sufficient research.
According to her family, Mattie’s final online purchase proved considerably less useful than advertised. After improperly using a product purchased through the TikTok Shop, Mattie suffered complications from which she did not recover. Her family wishes to remind everyone that phrases such as “viral,” “life-changing,” and “TikTok made me buy it” should never be considered substitutes for reading the directions.
Mattie was preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, Buford Fortberryman; her parents; one brother, Cecil Patterson of Cisco; and a sister, Wanda Sue Ledford of Chatsworth.
She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Rhonda and Dale Pritchett of Crandall and Tammy and Wesley Ridley of Chatsworth; son and daughter-in-law, Ricky and Darlene Fortberryman of Eton; sister, Betty Jean Cantrell of Dalton; grandchildren, Heather Pritchett, Cody Pritchett, Savannah Ridley, Tyler Fortberryman, and Makayla Fortberryman; six great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, church family, and friends throughout Murray County.
Funeral services for Mattie will be held Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Greater Abernathy Pentecostal Tabernacle, with the Rev. Garland T. Pendergrass officiating.
Burial will follow in Crandall Cemetery, where Mattie will be laid to rest beside her husband, Buford.
The family will receive friends Monday evening from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. at Omar’s Funerals and Cremations and again Tuesday at the church beginning one hour prior to the service.
The Fortberryman family wishes to thank their friends, neighbors, and church family for the prayers, meals, telephone calls, and acts of kindness shown during this unexpected loss.
In Mattie’s memory, the family respectfully suggests that everyone read the instructions before using anything ordered from the internet.
Omar’s Funerals and Cremations is honored to serve the family of Mattie Lou Fortberryman and the communities of Crandall, Eton, and greater Murray County.
“Serving families with dignity, compassion, and absolutely no purchases required.”