Gertha Hynas "Polly" Mask, born December 5, 1927, departed this life and entered the hands of God on the morning of May 31, 2025, with loved ones nearby.

Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Monday, June 2, at the McNeece-Morris Funeral Home Chapel in Fulton. Burial will be in Itawamba Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be on Monday from 10:00 a.m. until service time at the funeral home.

She is preceded in death by her parents, James Wiley Matthews and Janie Etress Matthews; her brothers, Ralph Matthews and Lawrence Matthews; her husband, James Oliver Mask; her grandson, Joseph Hinton; her daughter-in-law, Martha Jane Hinton; and many other friends and relatives. She is survived by her children: Teresa Cheryl Evans; Charles Matthew Hinton, Jr.; Barry Scott Hinton and wife Mary Jo; Susan Hinton Rogers and husband Paul; five grandchildren: Ross Lawrence Evans, Warren Lowell Evans (Emily Sarah Quan), James Paul Rogers, Erin Michelle Rogers, Benjamin Michael Rogers; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. She leaves many behind, she goes on to joyously reunite with many more.

One of her greatest loves and solaces was nature. For as long as she kept her mobility, she kept flower and vegetable gardens.  Up until the very end she retained a variety of knowledge of everything that grew. She adored all kinds of animals, but most of all those that were small and sweet-natured, especially cats, dogs, and birds of every sort.

Her talents were numerous: sewing, carpentry, gardening, cooking, mechanics, and every useful art. She committed to memory many of her favorite poems, prayers, and hymns. Till almost the very end of her life, she would occasionally play the piano which she learned by ear; a favorite piece of hers to play was "Cotton Fields Back Home," and a jazzy boogie-woogie.

She remained strong through every trial in her life, and with God's help withstood them all. Her children remember that she always kept happy music playing at home, which lifted spirits in troubled times. She had a ready laugh and loved to parody various characters in her life. She was an intimidating Scrabble opponent, a hilarious storyteller, and a faithful playmate to her children and grandchildren.

Most importantly, she remained faithful to God through it all. When asked what was the best day of her life, she replied: "The day I obeyed the Gospel." She was a great encourager; her example and influence turned many souls to Christ. She often acted as a spiritual taxi service, driving many miles out of her way to bring children and the elderly to worship.

With her departure, the world bids farewell to one of the few remaining of that Greatest Generation which lived through momentous epochs of American History—from the Great Depression of her early childhood that imparted a lifelong thriftiness; through the Second World War, during which she assembled gyroscopes and landing gears as a mechanic at Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile, AL; through the advent of rock'n'roll (she loved Elvis Presly, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, the Platters, the Oak Ridge Boys, and many others) and the other upheavals of the postwar world, and through the first quarter of the tumultuous twenty-first century.

Five hundred words cannot sum the meaning of a life, nor can they express the fullness of what Polly meant to those that knew her. Let it be enough to say that she loved, was loved, and has gone on into love, into a long-awaited reward far removed from every pain and fear. To her grandchildren she would always say, "I love you more than all the little pearly shells," and it was true, and those that carry on after her will know it.