Lottie Mae Royal, 91, of Irwin County, Georgia, died Tuesday, October 6, 2020, at Gramps ‘n’ Grannies Assisted Living in Warner Robins.
Funeral services will be held 2 PM, Friday, October 16, 2020, at The Paulk Funeral Home Chapel, Fitzgerald, with her pastor, the Rev. Josh Bowles, and Ms. Royal’s family officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, Fitzgerald.
Ms. Royal was born December 27, 1928, in Coffee County, Georgia, to the late Eli Lafayette “Fate” & Daisy Mae Troupe Griffin. She worked in the shipyards in Savannah during World War II. For many years, Ms. Royal worked as a licensed practical nurse and charge nurse at several hospitals and nursing facilities. She owned and operated the first licensed assisted living facility in Houston County as well. She was a writer and an artist and a very adventurous person. She won a gold medal at the Senior Olympics in checkers. Ms. Royal lived and traveled throughout the world. She was a child of the Great Depression who never allowed life to defeat her. She always had a positive attitude. She was a devout Christian and a member of Ocilla Church of God.
She is survived by her children: Paula Day Johns of Warner Robins, Waylon Elmer Day & Peggy Cox Day of Ocilla, and Donja Olethia Royal of Wray; grandchildren: Timothy Paul Johns & Melanie Merritt, Wendy Johns Simmons & Shelly Malone Simmons, Jr, Kelli Johns Simons & Jimmy Simons, Clinton Dennis Johns & Sara Viteri Johns, Allison Day Poole & Dewayne Poole, and Ashley Day Peacock & Cory Peacock; great-grandchildren: Mitchell Paul Johns, Matthew Austin Johns, Blake Thomas Selph, Olivia Renee’ Simmons, Shelly Malone “Trey” Simmons, III, Tayler Quinn Simons & Chandler Griffin Simons, Zachary Joseph Simons, Benjamin Wade Simons, Caleb Day Johns, Kaitlyn Viteri Johns, Tripp Poole, Jett Poole, Doll Poole, Rachel Poole, Audrey Peacock, Sophia Peacock, and Harloe Peacock; and two great-great-grandchildren: Jackson Clyde Selph and Carter Mason Selph. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husbands, Elmer Lee Day and Donald Alfred Royal; four brothers: Thurman Griffin, John E. “Dutch” Griffin, James F. Griffin, and Olin Griffin; and a sister: Olethia Griffin Luke.