Alice Elizabeth Griggs Cumbus, 102, died Friday, January 8, 2021 at home. She was born March 18, 1918 in Montgomery, the daughter of the late Ben Hybert Griggs and Bertha Ott Griggs. She went to Highland Avenue Grammar School, where her two children later attended, graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in May 1936 and attended Huntingdon College for two years. As a young woman, she worked as a clerk in her father’s store, B.H. Griggs Produce on Madison Avenue in downtown Montgomery. On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, Alice married Alton Beverly Cumbus in an 8 a.m. ceremony at Highland Avenue Baptist Church. She liked to tell the story of their honeymoon in Chattanooga, TN, and at Ruby Falls, where they almost spent their first night in an underground passage when the elevator operator forgot the last group of tourists. Luckily, he remembered as he sat down to dinner, returned to work and sent the elevator down to retrieve the newlyweds. Alton and Alice were married 70 years before his passing. They remained members of the church until 1979 when they were among the founders of McGhee Road Baptist Church, where Alice participated in the Greeters’ Committee and Wednesday Night Suppers as an organizer. At Highland Avenue, she also served as a director and teacher in the Sunday School department, a Training Union director, Girls Auxiliary leader, WMU president and a Vacation Bible School teacher. After the closing of McGhee Road Baptist Church in 2017, Alice attended Heritage Baptist Church. Well-known for her homemade sour cream pound cakes, she often held them on her lap on trips to see her children and grandchildren. A world traveler, she was also fond of collecting antiques, was an accomplished seamstress and enjoyed playing cards with her friends.

Graveside service will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 13, 2021, at Greenwood Cemetery. Those who wish to attend the service should gather in their cars at Leak Memory Chapel, 945 Lincoln Road at 12:45 p.m. for a procession to the cemetery.