Virginia H. Nelson, 83, of Ocilla, Georgia, died Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton Georgia.
Funeral services will be held 11 AM, Friday, February 24, 2017, at the Ocilla Baptist Church in Ocilla, Georgia, with the Rev. Rob Dowdle and the Rev. George Carroll Paulk officiating. Private interment will be held in Crest Lawn Memorial Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The family will receive friends from 6-8 Thursday evening at the funeral home in Ocilla.
Mrs. Nelson was born February 1, 1934, in Ocilla, Georgia to the late Lonnie & Estelle Mixon Hudson. She was a 1951 graduate of Ocilla High School and later received her dental hygienist certification from Atlanta Emory University. She received a business degree from Southern Business University in Atlanta. She worked as a dental hygienist in a periodontist practice for many years and was a member of the National Board of Certified Dental Assistants. Mrs. Nelson lived in Atlanta from 1951 until returning to Ocilla in 1996. She was a very active member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Ocilla, having served as Worthy Matron and Marshall. Mrs. Nelson attended the Ocilla Baptist Church, where she was a member of the choir, the Hannah Sunday School class and the Senior Adult ministry.
She is survived by her husband of 18 years, Pierce Nelson of Ocilla, a son, Allen Sweatt and his wife Margaret of Gautier, Mississippi; a daughter, Gail Torres-Toro and her husband Bernd of Jonesboro; three grandchildren: Kelli & Brooks McKay of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Kristen Torres-Toro of Dawsonville, and Bernd & Ashley Toro of Ocilla; five great-grandchildren: Britt McKay, Jake McKay, Parker Toro, Cannon Toro, and Lacey Toro; and a sister, Judy & Pat Hodnett of Ocilla. Several nieces and nephews also survive. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband, Harvey Sweatt in 1986.