Lila Tanner Paulk, 90, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Friday, January 25, 2013, at her residence.
Funeral services will be held 2 P.M., Sunday, January 27, 2013, at The Paulk Funeral Home Chapel, Fitzgerald, with the Rev. Dr. Mike Ruffin officiating. Maurisa Paulk will give the eulogy. Interment will follow in the Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7-9 Saturday evening at the funeral home.
Mrs. Paulk was born April 19, 1922 in Wrightsville to the late Bernard Bartow & Thelma Kennedy Tanner. She was a 1939 graduate of Dublin High School. She was graduated from the Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Education. She also did her post-graduate work at GSCW. An educator for many years, Mrs. Paulk taught school in Alma and Wrightsville before moving to Fitzgerald in 1946. She was the Home Economics Instructor at Fitzgerald High School for many years. The football coach at that time, Ellis Paulk, brought some damaged jerseys to her classroom to be repaired. There the two met, fell in love, and were married. She was an avid bridge player, a hobby she enjoyed for 65 years. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald and the Rebekah Sunday school class.
She is survived by three sons and daughters-n-law: Jack & Maurisa Paulk of Fitzgerald, Allan & Judi Paulk of Orlando, FL, and Bernard Paulk of Cleveland, GA; seven grandchildren: Mark Whitley, Sharyn Paulk Smith, Payton Paulk Dix, Tyler Paulk, Ryan Paulk, Gail Paulk, and Nicole Paulk; eight great-grandchildren: Julia Smith, Shay Phillips, Josie Whitley, Paulk Smith, Ellis Dix, Camryn Smith, Liza Dix, and Eva Rose Paulk. Several nieces and nephews also survive. She was preceded in death by her husband: Ellis T. Paulk; a daughter: Gale Paulk Whitley; a grandson: Christopher Paulk; three brothers and two sisters.
The family suggests those desiring to send memorials may send them to Blue-Gray Community Hospice, P.O. Box 1447, Fitzgerald, GA 31750 or to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 367, Fitzgerald, GA 31750.