Mrs. Margarete Rodgers Loftin, 78, retired from AT&T and resident of Woods Drive, died Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at Maury Regional Hospital.

Funeral services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Friday at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Rev. David McGregor officiating. Burial will be in Polk Memorial Gardens. The family will visit with friends Thursday from 4 – 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Memorials may be sent to West End Baptist Church, 900 West 7th St., Columbia, TN, 38401. Notes of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.oakesandnichols.com.

The Scott County, Kentucky native was the daughter of the late John Rodgers and Lorena Robey Rodgers. On February 26, 1950 she married James Clifton Loftin, Sr. who preceded her in death December 12, 1990. She was a 1948 graduate of Columbia Central High School and also graduated from Columbia Business College. Mrs. Loftin was chief operator at AT&T and was a member of the Telephone Pioneers. She was a member of West End Baptist Church.

Survivors include her daughter, Jennifer (Sammy) Barrier of Columbia; a son, James Clifton Loftin, Jr. of Shelbyville; one sister, Jewell Rodgers Latta of Columbia; and several nieces and nephews.