Aubrey Clifton Mixon, 92, of Tifton went to be with the Lord October 19, 2016, at Emory University Hospital-Midtown in Atlanta. His funeral service will be held at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, October 23, 2016 in the Memorial Chapel of Tifton’s First Baptist Church with Dr. Wayne Roe and the Rev. Paul Thomas officiating. Mr. Mixon will be laid to rest at Brushy Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Irwin County. The family will receive friends Sunday, October 23, 2016, from 3:00 p.m. until the hour of the service in the Memorial Chapel of Tifton’s First Baptist Church.
Eric Barfield, Jake Walker, Chuck Hill, Dan Branch, Benny Johnston and Bill Vance will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Raley Sunday school class of Tifton’s First Baptist Church.
Born September 20, 1924 in Tift County, Mr. Mixon was the son of the late Perry and Sadie Hall Mixon. He was also preceded in death by his first wife, Doris Evelyn Bryan; one son, Tony Lamar Howell, Jr.; a sister Jeanette Mixon Cash Payne; nephews, Phillip Cash and Perry Cash; niece, Jo Ellen Cash Mobley; two brothers Howard and Troy Mixon, who died in childhood. He graduated from Tifton High School in 1942, joined the United States Air Force in 1945 and was honorably discharged in 1946. He graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in 1948 and from the University of Georgia in 1950 with a BSA degree. He graduated from North Carolina State University with a Master’s of Science in Agronomy in 1953. He worked with the University of Florida Agricultural Extension Service from 1954-1957. He accepted a position with Auburn University as a USDA Research Agronomist, specializing in peanut breeding and disease control in 1957. He obtained a PhD in plant pathology in June, 1966, from Auburn University and transferred to the University of Georgia Coastal Plains Experiment Station in 1966 as a UDSA agronomist. He conducted research in plant breeding and plant pathology. He retired from USDA in 1987.
After retirement, Aubrey engaged in tree and water conservation on the family farm. He also became a loyal golfer with golfing buddies that lasted twenty years. He was a devoted member of the Kiwanis Club of Auburn and Tifton for more than thirty years. For many years, he enjoyed gardening and growing sunflowers. He enjoyed reading and traveling in the United States and abroad. He has been an active member of First Baptist Church and the Raley Sunday School Class for more than thirty years. He served on the Board of Directors for Brother Charlie’s Rescue Center for several years. In more recent years, he enjoyed putting puzzles together and mounting them on foam board to be sold in Brother Charlie’s Thrift Stores.
He loved his Lord, his family, his country and the miracles that God gave through the land and nature. He was grateful to God for abundantly blessing him with a rich life.
Mr. Mixon is survived by his wife of thirty years, Marolyn Westbrook Howell Mixon of Tifton; a daughter Nancy Leigh Howell of Valdosta; nieces and their spouses, Sheila Sutton, Teresa and Larry Walker and Gina and Chuck Hill, all of Tifton; sisters and brothers-in-law, Carolyn and Buddy Sellers of Dublin and Gwen and Johnny Sellers of Cadwell.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the International Mission Fund at First Baptist Church of Tifton, 404 Love Avenue, Tifton, GA 31794.