Mary Watson Nelms, 81, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Saturday, July 22, 2017, at her residence.
Funeral services will be held 3 PM, Monday, July 24, 2017, at The Paulk Funeral Home Chapel in Fitzgerald, with the Rev. John Gibbs, Jr. and Rev. Randy McDuffie officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
Mrs. Nelms was born November 27, 1935, in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to the late Russell & Rosa Lee Gaff Watson. She attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton. Mrs. Nelms served as director of the Chambers of Commerce in both Fitzgerald and Ocilla. She obtained her real estate license and worked with Roanoke Realty and was a manager for Hardee’s Food Systems. She later operated a daycare in her home and was dearly loved by all the children she kept. She was a very talented artist specializing in sewing, painting, and crafting ceramics. Mrs. Nelms will also be fondly remembered for the many wedding cakes and other sweets she baked for friends and neighbors. She was a member of Mt. Olive Baptist Church.
She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Jack Nelms of Fitzgerald; three sons: Ronnie Nelms & Louise MacDonald of Fitzgerald, Danny & Connie Nelms of Fitzgerald, and Gary & Dena Nelms of Ocilla; grandchildren: Lori Nelms Swanson & Matt, Amanda Nelms Steverson & Brad, Kayla Nelms, and Garrett Nelms & Hayden; great-grandchildren: Lauren Swanson, Landon Swanson, Bella Steverson, Ellie Kate Swanson, and Boyce Nelms; and two brothers, Hugh & Brenda Watson of Virginia and Russell & Janice Watson of Alabama. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by three brothers, infant twins: Thurman and Herman and Archie Watson and two sisters, Doris Young and Jewell Eldridge.
The family wishes to acknowledge the wonderful compassionate care given to Mrs. Nelms by her caretakers, Annie Ruth Price and Brenda Austin.