Shirley Mae Helms Marchant Cook, 83, of Tifton, Georgia died Saturday, October 23, 2021 at her residence. A private graveside service for her children and grandchildren will be held at the Omega Cemetery. Pastor Jimmy Spikes and the Rev. Joseph L. Crumley will officiate.
Shirley was born on June 12, 1938 in Omega (Tift County) and was the daughter of George William Helms and Ruby Beatrice Dubose Helms Gay, both deceased. She was also preceded in death by her husband and her daughters’ father, Robert Earl “Bobby” Marchant (1994), whom she married on December 28, 1957. Bobby was employed as an engineer/surveyor with the Georgia Department of Transportation, District 4. During his employment with the GDOT, Interstate 75, from Cordele to the Florida line was completed. He then oversaw the maintenance on this section of Interstate 75. Also preceding her in death was her second husband, Heywood Tommy Cook, who died in 2005; her grandparents, William James Helms and Annie Melvin Helms and Sherrod Levy Dubose and Addie Fletcher Dubose, whose mother was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian from South Carolina; two brothers, Jerry Wayne Helms and Jimmy Mack Gay and her step-father, Robert Lewis “R. L.” Gay.
Shirley graduated from Omega High School in 1957. She lived all her life in Omega until moving to Tifton in 2000. She was a member of the Omega Methodist Church as a child and with her own children. She later became a member of Knights Memorial Baptist Church in Lakeland, Georgia.
Shirley was the first woman to be elected to the Omega City Council and served for nine years (three terms). While on the council, she organized several city-wide roadside and sidewalk clean-ups with citizens, young and old, over a period of fifteen years. She also was instrumental in organizing newspaper recycling and construction of the tennis courts in Omega.
After serving three terms on the city council, Shirley became the first woman Mayor of Omega and served two terms. While Mayor, she was instrumental in planning a new City Hall. Shirley received the First Place Award for Keep America Beautiful for the State of Georgia in 1984 presented by the Governor at the State Capitol. Shirley was responsible for the beautification of the Omega store-fronts involving painting, installing new awnings and improved landscaping. She was chosen as one of eighteen people to be Tift County’s most beautiful people in 1988 due to her work in the community to make it cleaner and a more beautiful place to live. She served on the Tifton-Tift County Clean Community Commission which later became Tift County Keep Tift Beautiful for a total of over thirty years.
Shirley received an award from the Emergency Management Association of Georgia in 1993. She volunteered to manage the Omega Clubhouse. During her terms in office, Shirley was instrumental in working with the EPA to move both cotton gins in Omega to improve air quality in the city limits of Omega.
Shirley co-organized the Military Order of the Purple Heart (Chapter 694) in Tifton with local veterans meeting in her home, with the dedication of the Order being held on July 4, 1998. She also co-organized the Combat Infantrymen’s Association (C.I.B), South Georgia Chapter, with the National Headquarters being in Asheville, North Carolina. As an avid supporter of veterans and their rights, Shirley had a desire to construct a Veterans Park in their honor. The park was completed and included a performance stage with beautiful landscaping and trees being planted. A flag pole and plaque was also erected in honor of the veterans. The park was restored in 2011. Shirley was also instrumental in collecting memorabilia
for the Tift County Veteran’s Museum that opened in 2019. She helped collect over 350 photos of local veterans. She then labeled and sleeved all the photos. She also collected other military artifacts. These photos and artifacts are now displayed in the Tifton’s Veterans Museum.
In April of 1987, Shirley applied for and the City of Omega was awarded a new FM radio construction permit for Channel 298A. This was accomplished after then years of work and several thousand dollars and several trips to Washington, DC. In 1991, she was named owner and president of Sunbelt Broadcasting, Inc., which operated the Omega Radio Station, WQBY, which is now WTIF, 107.5 in Tifton.
Shirley was also responsible for raising money to have a monument built in Shiloh Cemetery in Omega.
Shirley was employed as a nurse by Dr. William “Bill” Bridges for ten years. She then worked for Dr. Paul Lucas as a nurse and office manager for twenty-nine years.
Shirley is survived by her four daughters and sons-in-laws, Yolanda and Ricky Baker of Tifton, Nancy Glaze of Tifton and Rodney Glaze of Omega, Patsy and Freddy Permenter of Statenville, Lorie Marchant of Acworth; one sister Janet Helms Mitchell Rome of Thomasville; eight grandchildren, Amanda Baker Wiley, Kristy Baker Music and Michael, Kelly Glaze, Megan Glaze, Sarah Peacock, Kaitlyn Permenter Flowers and Joseph, Joseph (Joey) Peacock, Robert (Rob) Permenter and Lily; Great Grandchildren, Chase Wiley, Jasmine Barron, Alexis Barron, Hallie Barron, Reese Pro, Calley Pro, Carlee Pro, Hudson Music, Josephine (Josie) Music and Pierce Flowers along with many nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be mailed to Omega Methodist Church, P.O. Box 512, Omega, GA 31775.