Individual Details

Birth

Twin of James Fulton Furr

Marriage

"If my husband's Army time in Germany hadn't been extended, we would have never met," says Elfriede ''Mecky'' Furr. "I spoke only a few words of English, but our instant attraction seemed to make that a small issue." ''As a proud American citizen,'' Elfriede ''Mecky'' Furr says, ''I still think often about those early days ... with the man that I followed here (from Germany) so many years ago. We have shared our love with three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.'' Mecky had accompanied a girlfriend on a 200-mile train trip to the U.S. military installation at Babenhausen in Hesse, Germany, southeast of Frankfurt. (The facility closed in 2007.) "My friend's fiancé introduced me to his friend Tim" -- Timothy Allison Furr -- "and we all watched a football game at a local field," she says. "I thought, 'What a sport -- just guys falling all over each other!'" "I just took one look at her," admits Tim, 70, "and knew that was the one I wanted to marry." It was late November 1961. "A cold day," Mecky, 68, remembers, "and I mentioned to my girlfriend that I was hungry. In no time, a warm jacket was put over my shoulders and a hamburger (another new experience) was put into my hands by Tim. When we returned to the car, Tim opened the door for me. "I was very impressed. When he said he came from the American South and Mississippi specifically, visions of novels that took place in the antebellum South came to mind. I had read 'Gone with the Wind' and many others in German. By that time I had also noticed how handsome he was. "He had a big, muscular, 6-foot-2 frame, a winning smile and beautiful eyes." It turned out that Tim was not alone with those features. His twin, Jim, was in the Air Force and also stationed in Germany. The pair had something of a notable childhood, Mecky learned, as they were featured in the Memphis Press-Scimitar in 1942 as 3-year-olds available for adoption through the now-infamous Tennessee Children's Home Society. A follow-up item reported the twins had found a home together. "And they will probably never know that Mary Pickford, former 'America's Sweetheart,' was among the many who offered them a permanent home," the article read. "The children had already been placed when Miss Pickford's application arrived, according to Miss Georgia Tann, executive secretary of the society." Only later did Mecky learn of that saga. In November 1961, she was focused on their second date. "We went to a movie starring Natalie Wood and I didn't understand the dialogue," she says. "When he gave me a long speech in the car afterward, I thought he was trying to explain the movie to me. After some time he motioned with a pen that he would write (me) a letter." When it arrived, Mecky labored to translate it, only to learn that he wrote that what he had to say was too important to put in a letter. "Till I met her, I wasn't interested in getting married, not at all," Tim insists. "She walked into my life and that was it." "On the third date," she says, "I finally grasped that he was proposing marriage. We were in love and thought of no consequences, even though there were many. His mother in Mississippi ... was very happy, but my parents were furious." After all, they'd had only three dates in four weeks, and Tim's German was, as he puts it, "inconsequential." "I couldn't think of the German word for marriage or engaged, so I finally just showed her 'putting on a ring' and she went along with it!" he says. Tim Furr and Mecky Preis hurdled mountains of red-tape before they married in her hometown of Marburg, Germany, on March 10, 1962, with his twin as best man and her sister as maid of honor. (Eventually those two, also, would marry and move to Memphis, but later go their separate ways.) "On April 28, 1962," says Mecky, "I left my family and everything I had ever known to spend my life with my version of Rhett Butler. "Upon arrival in New York, we traveled by train on wooden seats for three days and two nights to Memphis, with an eight-hour stop in Bristol, Tenn., for train repairs. Arriving in Memphis, my white outfit covered in train soot, I saw that there was civilization here after all. I met his mother and we continued our journey to Pontotoc, Miss., by car. She was a very gracious Southern lady, and we would stay with her until we found a place of our own" -- back in Memphis. "The biggest surprise for me," Tim says, "was her learning English as fast as she did. I was amazed." Today Tim is retired from Delta Air Lines, but not from golf. Mecky runs SouthernWings, the butterfly farm she has nurtured for 25 years. "We have shared our love with three children (Mark Furr of Memphis, Sonja Boike of Collierville and Anita Masters of Chattanooga), seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild," she says. "As a proud American citizen, I still think often about those early days and my many adventures with the man I followed here so many years ago."

Death

It is with deep and heavy sadness we announce the passing of Timothy (Tim) Allison Furr, 79, of Germantown, Tennessee. Tim passed away peacefully, Sunday, December 16, 2018. Tim was born June 2, 1939 in Dyersburg, TN. At age 3, he and his twin brother James (Jim) Fulton Furr were adopted and lovingly raised by Fulton A. and Irene Bratton Furr of Pontotoc, Mississippi. In his youth, Tim was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Tim graduated Pontotoc High School in 1957, attended Ole Miss University and Marion Military Academy, then joined the U.S. Army in 1959. While stationed at Babenhausen AB in Hessen, Germany, Tim met his German bride-to-be, Elfriede "Mecky" Preis. Tim took one look at her and knew she was the one he wanted to marry. Following their marriage, he brought his new bride home to Pontotoc, Mississippi and ultimately settled in Germantown, TN. Tim took a job as a teller at First National Bank, then worked for Delta Airlines beginning in 1963 and retiring in 1994. He was an avid golfer, bowler, private pilot, and enjoyed many hobbies including reading, sports, traveling, nature, birding near and far. Above all, he enjoyed spending time with his family. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Mecky; two daughters, Anita Elaine Masters (Jim) of Soddy Daisy, TN, and Sonja Kathrien Boike of Collierville, TN; and one son, Mark Alexander Furr (Julie) of Germantown, TN. Additionally, he was fondly known as Opa by his eight grandchildren, Michael, Jonathon, Kristin, Matthew, Ryan, Ethan, Brandon and Aiden; and two great-grandchildren, Allie and Adelyn. His twin brother, nieces and nephews, and many extended family members will miss him as well. Open Visitation will be held at Collierville Funeral Home, 534 W. Poplar Ave, Collierville, TN 38017 on Saturday, December 22, 2018 from 12:00-2:00 pm, followed by a Service to celebrate his life. Pastor Jim Shears will be officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Presbyterian Church in memory of Timothy A. Furr, 124 S. Main St., Pontotoc, MS 38863.