Charlotte Alexander Gibbs Ponder, 90, of Omega died Monday, September 15, 2014, at Tift Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 18, 2014, at Omega United Methodist Church with Rev. Gary Lee Griffin and Rev. John Sikes Gibbs, Jr. officiating. Brian Ponder will give a eulogy. Mrs. Ponder will be laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Thursday, September 18, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. until the hour of the service at Omega United Methodist Church.
David Gibbs, John Sikes Gibbs, Brian Ponder, Ken Ponder, Paul Ponder and Chris Ponder will serve as pallbearers.
Mrs. Ponder was born on February 10, 1924 in Ty Ty and was the daughter of Edgar Allen Gibbs and Charlotte Alexander Gibbs, both deceased. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Robert M. Ponder, who died in 2007. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama; and graduated from a Business course at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans, Louisiana. She taught Mathematics in the Tift County School System and worked in administration with Prudential Life Insurance Company in Jacksonville, Florida. She was a long-time member and supporter of the Tifton Garden Club. She was an instigator in helping secure the Fulwood home for a Garden Center headquarters. In 1983, she was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Tifton Council of Garden Clubs. She was also a member of the Omega Woman’s Club and a member of Omega United Methodist Church.
Mrs. Ponder is survived by her cousins, Tommy and Carole Gibbs of Columbia, South Carolina, Evelyn Cottle Rigdon and husband Ralph of Tifton, and Helen Gibbs Shannon of Lenox; a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Jones and Earline Ponder and a sister-in-law, Sara Ponder; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The Ponder and Gibbs family would like to express their sincere appreciation to Mrs. Ponder’s care-givers, Lethia Jackson, Terri Rogers, Paula Pittman and Ella Wallace.
Flowers will be accepted or memorial gifts may be made to Omega United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 205, Omega, GA 31775; or the Tifton Garden Club, P. O. Box 1772, Tifton, GA 31793