Tallahassee, FLorida – Magaline “Madge” Cline Fountain, 86, passed away on Thursday, December 8, 2022, at her home in Tallahassee, Florida.
Madge was born on January 25, 1936, to parents Joseph (J.B.) and Maggie Mitchell Cline in Monroe County, Tennessee, near the town of Englewood.
She is preceded in death by her loving husband Dr. Robert G. Fountain, son Philip M. Fountain, brothers Wesley and Charles Cline, sister Mildred Brown Thacker, and her very special in-laws Graham and Jewel Fountain.
Madge is survived by her children Molly Fountain Merry, Graham W. Fountain and his wife Felicia Adams Fountain, and grandson Joshua Robert Merry, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was especially close with her nephew David Brown, Jr., his wife Robyn, and their two children Sydney and Travis, all of Atlanta, Georgia.
Madge grew up in a Christian home in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. She later moved to Atlanta in her late teens when her father relocated for work. Madge had a love for music and singing throughout her life, and even sang professionally in her twenties as a back-up singer to several country-western musicians. Although having a beautiful voice, Madge’s life would take a different turn while working in hospital administration at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Madge met the love of her life, Emory dental student Bob Fountain, through a blind date. After they married and Bob finished dental school, they settled in his hometown of Crestview, Florida, where she and “Dr. Bob” would operate their dental practice for over 30 years.
While her children were growing up, Madge was a stay-at-home mother, immersing herself in volunteer work for various local charities including the American Cancer Society, the March of Dimes and the American Heart Association. She also activity participated in her children’s school activities, volunteering for the PTA organizations and school band parents’ associations. She was also a member of the Dogwood Garden Club, The Old Spanish Trail Club, the Los Caballeros, and Beta Sigma Phi. Her husband was a former FSU football player and founding member of the FSU Varsity Club, and they spent decades supporting Florida State University and the football program, including serving as founding board members of the Coach Bobby Bowden Football Scholarship at FSU. Madge was a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church in Crestview, where she would be found singing in the sanctuary choir and participating in many church activities. But the real love of Madge’s life was spending time with her husband and children while vacationing on Dog Island and the Florida Keys. Although she did not scuba dive like the rest of the family, she became an excellent deck hand and enjoyed her time on the water with her family.
Later in the years, Madge would return to work as office manager for Dr. Bob’s dental practice. It became a new adventure and a high level of enjoyment as she fell in love with the patients and staff who were all part of the Fountain family. When Dr. Bob passed away in December of 1996, Madge moved to Tallahassee to be near her children who were all working in state government. She adapted well, making new friends and enjoying spending time with old classmates from Dr. Bob’s FSU days. Most game weekends would find her at Doak Campbell Stadium for the home football games and visiting with friends in the Varsity Club Skybox. As her health and mobility declined, ballgames and trips down to the Dog Island house became too difficult.
Madge will fondly be remembered as a caring soul who was always willing to lend a hand to those in need, and to encourage others to be all they could be. The Fountain Family would like to thank the Tallahassee Visiting Angels and the Big Bend Hospice for the love and care they showed our mother.
A visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at 1:00 p.m., with the funeral service beginning at 2:00 p.m., at Whitehurst-Powell Funeral Home Chapel, 436 W. James Lee Blvd, Crestview, Florida 32536. Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home in Tallahassee and Whitehurst-Powell Funeral Home in Crestview are in charge of the arrangements. Messages of sympathy may be sent to the Fountain Family, P.O. Box 183, Crestview, Florida 32539.
