Bessie Mae Young, 94, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Pruitt Health in Ocilla, Georgia.
Funeral services will be held 2 PM, Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at The Paulk Funeral Home Chapel in Fitzgerald, with the Rev. Chuck Taylor and the Rev. Todd Brooks officiating. Interment will follow in Old Valley Grove Cemetery, Irwin County, with the Rev. Dan Craft officiating. The family will receive friends from 6-8 Tuesday evening at the funeral home in Fitzgerald.
Mrs. Young was born June 11, 1927, in Turner County, Georgia, to the late Lonnie Columbus & Mary Anna Gilleon Cooley. She worked as a quality winder for Modern Fibers and retired as a packer for Lowell Packing. She enjoyed cooking for her family, especially banana nut bread and her famous dressing. She also enjoyed spending time with her loved ones. She was a member of Englewood Baptist Church.
She is survived by her children: Donald (Diane) Young of Fitzgerald, Brenda (Donald) Hammack of Shellman, Wesley (Christine) Young of Fitzgerald, Tommy (Betty) Young of Fitzgerald, Johnny (Sandy) Young of Waycross, Bonnie (Tony) Sault of Fitzgerald, and Sandy (Charles) McCarty of Sylvester; numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and great-great-great-grandchildren; a sister, Tessie Wright of Fitzgerald; along with many nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Willis Daniel Young; three children: Jerry Young, Martha Faye Young Dorminy, and Shirley Young Busbin; and siblings: Lessie Byrd, Faustine Evers, Buddy Cooley, Albert Cooley, and D.J. Cooley.