MORGANTON: Jo Ann Buice, 81, music was her life

Jo Ann and Maron Buice opened up their home so gospel and bluegrass artists could pick and sing.

Relatives helped the couple clear out their garage, even build a stage. Every Saturday, musicians made their way to the Buice house in North Georgia.

The get-togethers outgrew the garage, so the event moved to Fannin County High School. Today, it’s called “Singing in the Mountains,” co-founded by the Buices.

Before retiring to the mountains, Mrs. Buice sang in several church choirs and groups, among them the Sugar Hill Trio and Silvertone Choir. Song and music, said her son, Ron Buice of Buford, was her expression of faith.

Jo Ann Matthews Buice, 81, of Morganton, and formerly of Cumming and Sugar Hill, died Tuesday of bronchial pneumonia at Fannin Regional Hospital. The funeral is 3 p.m. today at First Baptist Church of Sugar Hill. Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

Additional survivors include her husband of 61 years, Maron S. Buice; two sons, Michael Buice and Hugh Buice, both of Suwanee; a daughter, Denise McBroom, and a sister, Dr. Helen Matthews Lewis, both of Morganton; 14 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.