Elma Blondean “Dean” Bullington Cargile, age 81, of Ocilla died December 13, 2020 at Pruitt Health in Ocilla.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00pm, Wednesday, December 16, 2020, at Arbor Baptist Church in Fitzgerald, Georgia, with Dr. Wayne Roe officiating. The family will receive friends starting at 12:00 noon in the sanctuary. Private interment will follow at Ocilla City Cemetery.
Mrs. Cargile was born January 24, 1939 in Rebecca, Georgia, to the late Rev. James Elmer and Mildred Cleghorn Bullington. She graduated from Sycamore High School and received a Bachelor in Business Administration from Berry College in Rome, Georgia. She then received her Master’s Degree in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. She served on the educational staff at First Baptist Church in Albany and at Tucker First Baptist Church before taking the job of Youth and Education Director at Ocilla Baptist Church, where she met her husband, Richard Cargile. They were married on December 14, 1969.
Dean worked with the Georgia Baptist Convention in leading Sunday School and Discipleship Training workshops throughout the state of Georgia. In 1970, she took a job as a caseworker at the Irwin County Department of Family and Children’s Services and advanced to Director by 1974. She served as director for 29 years. One of her passions was the care of children and families in the Ocilla/Irwin County area.
In 2005, Dean and Richard moved their church membership to Arbor Baptist Church in Fitzgerald, where she served as a Sunday School teacher and taught a weekly Bible study class.
Mrs. Dean loved the Lord and her church very much. She also served on many mission teams in the U.S. and abroad. From small-town Ocilla, to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, to Thailand, China and India, she was always sharing the Gospel of Christ, wherever she went.
She loved her children and grandchildren very much and enjoyed watching them play sports, piano, and teaching them how to fish.
She is survived by her husband of 51 years, Richard Franklin Cargile of Ocilla; her children and their spouses, Andrew (Andy) & Amy Cargile of Brunswick and Daniel & Melinda Fowler of Tifton; seven grandchildren: Emma Cargile, Andrew Cargile, Samuel Cargile, Chloe Cargile, Ryan Ross, Davis Ross & Tyler Ross; a sister and brother-in-law, Sonny & Laverne Pate of Irwinville; brothers and their spouses: Delmer & Ellen Bullington and Delt & Robbie Bullington of Sycamore; a brother-in-law, Doug Horn of Opelika, AL; and 14 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. James Elmer Bullington & Mildred Cleghorn Bullington; a sister and brother-in-law, Grady & Ruenette Gilbert and a sister, Betty Jean Horn.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to an organization that supports foster and orphaned children: Called to Care, P.O. Box 2396, Tifton, GA 31793 or on their website: iamcalledtocare.com