Hyllis Lealand Blackburn Thomas, 74, of Tifton passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, on Sunday, April 27, 2008, at Tift Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. Rev. Chris Ramsey will officiate with burial to follow in Lawrence Cemetery. Buddy Clements, Dewayne Hill, David Hill, Mosey Mullins, Pete Blackburn and Greg Blackburn will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be her son, Charles Thomas, and her grandsons, Kevin Thomas, Billy Clements and Alex Hill, who will escort her to her final resting place. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Mrs. Thomas was born on June 7, 1933 in Floyd County, Kentucky and was the daughter of R. E. "Dodd" Blackburn and Anna Simmons Blackburn, both deceased. She was also preceded in death by her firstborn son, John Rush Thomas; her granddaughter, Lealand MacKenzie Thomas; her sister, Hazel Lafferty; and three brothers, Crit Blackburn, Colonel Blackburn and Charles Blackburn. She was a loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother, who will be greatly missed. She was a retired educator, having taught 7th grade history at J. T. Reddick Middle School. The next 13 years she spent enjoying her grandchildren and filling them with stories of her childhood. She was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church.
Those left to cherish her memory are her five children, Sarah Mullins of Pikeville, Kentucky, Mary Clements and her husband, Buddy, of Tifton, Margaret Guest of Tifton, Charles Thomas of Tifton and Rebekiah Hill and her husband, Dewayne, of Tifton; her 12 grandchildren, Kathy Mullins, Kendra Spence, Mosey Mullins and Kari Mullins, all of Kentucky; Billy Clements and his wife, Denise, of Thomasville, Maranda Guest of Valdosta, and Laura Willis, Kevin Thomas, Dottie Guest, David Hill, Alex Hill and Emilea Hill, all of Tifton; her three great granddaughters, Laila Willis and Laine Clements and Lana Clements; her brother, Joe Blackburn and his wife, Peggy, of Lenox; two sisters-in-law, Bertha Blackburn of Kentucky and Avenell Blackburn of Ohio; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.