Elrea Sayer McDonald, 91, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Wednesday, February 14, 2024, peacefully at her home.
Funeral services will be held 2 PM, Saturday, February 17, 2024, at Deberry Baptist Church, in Coffee County, Georgia, with the Rev. Jeremy Cox officiating. Interment will follow in the Revis McDonald Cemetery in Ben Hill County, Georgia. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the services at Deberry Baptist Church.
Mrs. McDonald was born December 9, 1932, in Coffee County, Georgia, to the late James Bynum & Annie Carver Sayer. She was a farmer’s wife, a homemaker, and owned and operated McDonald’s Nursery and Dixieland Farms for 35 years. Mrs. McDonald was a great cook and will be especially remembered for her fried chicken and chicken and dumplings, as well as her homemade biscuits. She also loved flowers, gardening, canning and sewing. Mrs. McDonald was the oldest member of Deberry Baptist Church and dearly loved her Deberry family.
She is survived by her daughter, Shellah McDonald & Richard Tharp; sons: Greg & Carol McDonald and Tim & Denise McDonald, all of Fitzgerald; grandchildren: Stephen & Jennifer Coxen, Ryan & Leslie McDonald, Tyler & Zoye McDonald, Sydney McDonald, Abby McDonald, Charles & Summer McDonald, Austin & Christine McDonald, Jessie & Wesley Hudson, Delena McDonald and Ty McDonald; great-grandchildren: Madison, Zachary, Conner, Laila, Rosemary, John, Miguel, Maria, Alexander, Meadow, Mason, Ella Jane, Ryelee, Michael, Field, Christian, and one on the way; and a sister, Louise Dowling of Douglas. Many nieces and nephews also survive. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by two sons: Darrell McDonald and John McDonald; the father of her children, Revis McDonald; and siblings: Azalee Thompson, Addie Ruth Spires, Bertie Standridge, Jimmie Sayer, Mildred Lankford, J.B. Sayer, David Sayer, Robert Sayer, Annie Lou Bell, Starks Sayer, Noah Sayer, and Christine Sayer.
Paulk Funeral Home, Fitzgerald, is in charge of arrangements.