Thelma S. Padgett, 77, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Tuesday, January 6, 2015, at Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton.
Funeral services will be held 2 PM, Friday, January 9, 2015, at The Paulk Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. Isaac Thomas officiating. Interment will follow in the Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6-8 Thursday evening at the funeral home in Fitzgerald.
Mrs. Padgett was born September 20, 1937, in Rochelle, Georgia to the late Leroy & Laurine Watson Spires. She was a former seamstress for H.R. Kaminsky & Sons. She also managed Top Dollar Store on Pine Street, worked as a waitress at the first Sonic in Fitzgerald, and worked as a sales clerk for Wal-Mart. Mrs. Padgett loved to read and enjoyed playing bingo. Her love was spending time with her grandchildren. She was of the Baptist Faith.
She is survived by her companion, Delano Padgett of Fitzgerald; children and their spouses: Elvin & Susan Chaney of Knoxville, Tennessee, Debbie Whitaker of Fitzgerald, Lynn & Greg Wilcox of Rebecca, Tom & Bim Chaney of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Tracy & Nick Heath of Willacoochee; 17 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two brothers: Clarence & Carol Spires of Valdosta and Buster & Donna Spires of Rochelle; two sisters: Linda Hall of Chatsworth and Peggy & Bob Rottman of Abbeville. Several nieces and nephews also survive. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Alesia K. Chaney; a sister, Frances Wilkerson; and a brother, Charlie Spires.