Margaret Ann Layton

Ann Hooker Layton, a longtime resident of Magee, Mississippi, passed away peacefully on March 12, 2026, at Morton Care Center in Morton, Mississippi. She was born on January 3, 1934, in Louisville, Mississippi, to Neil and Inda Woodruff Hooker. She was preceded in death by her husband, Maurice Blake Layton.

Mrs. Layton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Mississippi College for Women, where she met the love of her life, Maurice Blake Layton. The couple married in 1954, and she devoted herself to her roles as homemaker and farmer’s wife. Known affectionately as “Mama Ann,” she found joy in reading and painting, and remained a faithful member of Old Good Hope Primitive Baptist Church in Magee for more than fifty years.

A woman of quiet talent and deep faith, she was often found on the porch with a paintbrush in hand when she was not cooking or helping with the cattle and chickens. In her Bible, she left a handwritten testimony that reflected the gentle spirit with which she lived: “One day I hope to say, I finished the race as the Lord wished me to. I know I won’t have accomplished great things, but if I can have achieved what He set for me, I am happy. It’s been a long road, but a happy one. I have had a wonderful husband, great children, a full life, and peace. I bask in the love of my Lord and look forward to being with Him someday.”

Mrs. Layton is survived by her children, Blake Layton and wife Maureen, Anita Layton Webb and husband Bob, and Kelvin Dirk Layton and wife Tammy; two grandsons, Caleb Layton (Sara) and Brian Layton (Melissa); five granddaughters, Samantha Ann Webb Laird, Holly Webb Morgan (Thomas), Amanda Layton Berry (Ben), Grace Layton Langford (Andy), and Hetty Ann Layton Thompson (Michael); and eleven great-grandchildren, Webb Laird, Blakely Berry, Weldon Berry, Houston Morgan, Freya Thompson, Kit Thompson, Zorah Langford, Robbye Ann Morgan, Luca Thompson, Runa Thompson, and Huk.