Mattie Mae Vaughn

What’s in a name?  Mighty in battle, is what the name Mattie means and indeed characterized the life of Mattie Mae Vaughn.  While she fought and overcame so many battles during her journey here, she finished her course on December 31, 2021 and has now gone on to receive the crown that her Heavenly Father has promised.  She states as did Paul the apostle in 2 Tim. 4:7, “I have fought a good fight…”. 

When you came into the presence of this 5’1” woman you sensed a battle hardened woman that loved God, loved family and wouldn’t mind letting you know her take on either if you asked or dared question. 

Born Mattie Mae Jones, her journey began on August 6, 1938 in Montrose, Ga, the second child born to the late Magellan Jones, Sr. and Annie Jane (Blash) Jones.  It was during her childhood in the south that she learned the essence of hard work as she did some work akin to sharecropping.  Faced with some dental issues as a teen, she traveled to Elmira, NY for treatment and Elmira became home. She became of member of the All Saint’s Home Church of God In Christ where she was recognized as a gifted oralist. Always maintaining a heart for God and a respect for the church, Mattie became a partner of Faith To Face Ministries in Corning, NY in 1998 where she remained active for 23 years. 

Miss Jones graduated from the Elmira Free Academy in 1959 and left home to become a domestic in the tri-state area before returning to New York’s greater southern tier where she met and married the late Willie L. Vaughn in 1961. God blessed their union with four children. 

Mattie became a single mother with 4 young children in 1969. She knew that is was mission critical to provide for her family so, ever living up to her name, she began a career at Hardinge Inc. in order to earn a living for herself and her children.  She was a faithful employee there for nearly 30 years. Through tremendous pressures, she continued to fight in order to ensure that her children came to know the God that she knew while also providing an opportunity for them to succeed in life.  Her sacrifice to and for family is among her greatest legacies. 

That legacy includes her children Angela Vaughn, Mark (Jeanette) Vaughn and Theresa Vaughn all of Corning, NY and Michael (Sheila) Vaughn of Midlothian, TX as well as nineteen grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren. She also leaves three siblings to cherish her memory: Mazzie Thomas of Macon, GA and Magellan Jones, Jr. and Annie Lucille Carter, both of Ithaca, NY. 

As Mattie Vaughn, the woman mighty in battle, takes her rest, we gratefully reflect on a lyric from a song she loved: Not being one to complain about the battles she faced, she rather took comfort in knowing that it was, ”just another day that the Lord has kept me!”. 

A memorial service celebrating Mattie’s life will be hosted by her family on Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 11am EST. Due to ongoing COVID restrictions, in-person attendance is by invitation only. The service will be livestreamed via the Faith To Face Ministries Facebook page and You Tube channel as well. In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to make a donation in Mattie’s honor at www.faithtoface.org or $FaithToFaceMin. 

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