Patsy Joan McSwain, 81, of Fitzgerald, died Sunday, July 19, 2015, at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon.
Funeral services will be held 10 AM, Wednesday, July 22, 2015, at Crossview Baptist Church with Luke Niday and the Rev. Jeff Parmer officiating. Her grandchildren will give eulogies. Interment will follow in the Big Creek Cemetery, Irwin County. The family will receive friends from 6-8 Tuesday evening at the funeral home in Fitzgerald.
Ms. McSwain was born January 26, 1934, in Irwin County, Georgia to the late Jessie Clifford and Mary Maudell “Sugar Pie” Wilson McSwain. She was a graduate of Rebecca High School where she played basketball and was salutatorian of her class. She attended Georgia State College in Atlanta and enjoyed her reunions with the girls she lived with while in school. She was a former teller at First State Bank and a former spinner at Modern Fibers. She was a seamstress in her home but enjoyed most of all raising her family. She will be remembered by friends and family as being a wonderful cook. She loved traveling, playing dominos, and attending family reunions and fish cookings. Ms. McSwain was a member of Crossview Baptist Church, the Seekers Sunday school class, and the Golden Believers. She was a former WMU Director and helped craft the centennial quilt that hangs in the church vestibule.
She is survived by her children and their spouses: Joan & Quinton Nilson of Cochran, Mike & Dale Niday, Teresa & Jeffrey Clark, Kathy & Lawton Lovett, and LeAnne & Mike Handley, all of Fitzgerald; her grandchildren and their spouses: Matthew & Lauren Lovett, Luke & Tina Niday, Jamie & Ashley Handley, Trey Gordon & Angie Day, Paul & Regan Lovett, Mark & Lauryn Niday, Brian Handley, Jonathan Handley, David Handley, and Janice Nilson; nine great-grandchildren and another one on the way; and a brother and four sisters-in-law, Clifford Wayne McSwain & Mary of Kennedale, Texas, Catherine McSwain of Fort Worth, Texas, Inez McSwain of Ashburn, and Polly McSwain of Cumming. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers: Delano Russell McSwain and George Cauley McSwain.
The family suggests those desiring to send memorials may send them to Crossview Baptist Church, P.O. Box 413, Fitzgerald, GA 31750 to be used for the WMU Ministry.