Carrie Ann Walker Griner, 69, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Wednesday, June 30, 2021, at her residence.
Funeral services will be held 2 PM, Friday, July 2, 2021, at The Paulk Funeral Home Chapel in Fitzgerald, with the Rev. Jimmy Cargle and the Rev. Ronny Griner officiating. Interment will follow in Luke Cemetery, Irwin County. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
Mrs. Griner was born June 29, 1952, in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to the late William Clyde & Mary Ruth Sumner Walker. She was a 1970 graduate of Fitzgerald High School and earned her secretarial degree from Ben Hill-Irwin Tech. She began her 40-year career as a para-legal with The Jay Firm. She would later work most of her career for John T. Croley, Jr., Attorney-at-Law. She spent her retirement years creating her Zen garden where she cultivated beautiful flowers and enjoyed feeding and watching the hummingbirds. Her passion was her family, whether it was cooking a meal for everyone or baking with her grandchildren. She was of the Baptist faith.
She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Philip Griner of Fitzgerald; daughter, Melissa Griner Kelly and her husband Bruce of Bogart; son, Major Michael Scott Griner, USMC and his wife Lindsey of Oceanside, California; grandchildren: Tripp Kelly, Taylor Anne Kelly, Bella Jean Griner, and Aubrey Griner; and two sisters: Virginia Walker Ethridge of Fitzgerald and Lynn Walker Whittle Heard and her husband Buck of Moultrie. Several nieces, nephews, and cousins also survive from the Walker, Sumner and Griner families. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a sister, Thelma Walker Clark; and two nephews: William Christopher Ethridge and James Carroll Whittle, III.