Mrs. Margaret Espy Averitt Combs, 87, widow of M.S. Combs, funeral home owner, died at her home, 201 25th Avenue North at 3:25 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Combs has been ill for the past five weeks. Funeral Services will be at the Vine Street Christian Church at 10 o'clock Monday morning. Dr. Roger T. Nooe will officiate, and burial will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Mrs. Combs had lived in Nashville for the past 78 years. She was born in Hartsville, a daughter of Peter Jackson Averitt and Martha Joan Youree Averitt, in 1860. She attended Miss Ida Boench's School at Gallatin, until the death of both parents when she moved to Nashville at the age of 9. In Nashville she made her home with her uncle, Peter Richard Averitt and his wife, Melvina Averitt. She was graduated from the old Howard High School. She was married to the late Mr. Combs in 1878. Mrs. Combs was an active member of the Vine Street Christian Church and has been a member since coming to Nashville. She was chosen the "Mother of the Congregation" of the church for her long service and as the oldest member. Mrs. Combs was the pianist for for the church's primary department for 40 years ago until a few months ago. She was a member of the Mary Frances chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and had also been a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a member of the Ladies Hermitage Association. She leaves one son, Joe C. Combs of Nashville; four daughters, Mrs. Roy A. Gardner, Mrs. Larkin E. Crouch, both of Nashville, Mrs. Paul E. Shacklett of Chattanooga and Mrs. Richard C. Harwell of Atlanta; 13 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. -- Nashville Tennessean, June 14, 1947

Her son, Joe C. Combs, continued to run the funeral home until his death in 1951. See his Find-A-Grave site.