Patricia Ann “Pat” Harper, 74, of Irwin County, died Sunday, February 1, 2015, at Pruitt Health in Ocilla.
Funeral services will be held 2 PM, Thursday, February 5, 2015, at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Irwin County with the Rev. John Gibbs, Jr. and the Rev. Virgil Vickers officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7-9 Wednesday evening at the funeral home in Ocilla.
Mrs. Harper was born December 20, 1940, in Irwin County, Georgia, to the late William Leon & Elloree Holsenbeck Spicer. She was a 1958 graduate of Irwin County High School. She was a former employee of H.R. Kaminsky & Sons, worked in the cafeteria at Irwin Academy, and was a peanut inspector for Federal-State Inspection Service. She was also a homemaker and a farmer’s wife. She loved to sing and participated with the Bernhardt Singers and the Clark Singers, ministering to many of our local nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Mrs. Harper also loved to read and enjoyed gardening, cross-stitching, and playing cards. She was an active member of Bethlehem Baptist Church and was involved in many ministries including teaching Sunday school and Discipleship Training, serving as Senior Adult ministry leader, and singing in the choir. She traveled to many places with her sisters on mini-vacations and will be remembered as a loving sister, wife, mother, and “Nana” to her family.
She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Rayburn Harper of Irwin County; her children: Stanley Ray Harper of Irwin County, Martha Ann Bose of Winter Springs, Florida, and Barbara Gail Harper of Irwin County; her grandchildren: Sara Deanna Harper, Leslie Ann Taylor and her husband, Wayne E. Taylor, III, Kristin Raye Harper, Mallory Lynn Teal and her husband, Adam Teal, Marissa Gail Bose, Mason Harper Bose, and Mattan Lawrence Bose; someone Pat considered a daughter, Mary Celeste Coleman of Eastman; four sisters: Jeanette & Tuffy Hudson of Ocilla, Velma Champion of Orlando, Florida, Jackie & Kade Gaines of Ocilla, and Sandra Rowe of Fitzgerald; a brother, Billy Spicer of Ocilla; as well as several nieces and nephews.
The family suggests those desiring to send memorials may send them to Gideons International, Ben Hill-Irwin Camp, P.O. Box 752, Fitzgerald, GA 31750.