Nancy Parker McKinnon, 84, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Monday, November 24, 2003, at her residence.
Graveside services will be held 11 A.M. Saturday, November 29, 2003 in the Evergreen Cemetery, Fitzgerald, Georgia, with Rev. Bobby Richey officiating. The family will receive friends from 4 to 7 P.M. Friday, at the funeral home.
Mrs. McKinnon was born Nancy Belle Parker, March 5, 1919 in Chauncey, Georgia to the late James Murray & Lee Fay Harper Parker. Her husband of 35 years, Norvell Emory McKinnon, Sr., Public accountant, and two brothers also preceded her in death. She was two years old when her family moved to Fitzgerald during the Big Railroad Strike. Her father became Pump Inspector for the railroad. She earned her B.S. Degree from Georgia Southern College in Statesboro, GA and she held a Bachelor of Law degree from La Salle Extension University in Chicago, Ill. She taught school from 1941 to 1965-66 term, two years at Irwinville School, four years at Ashton School and eighteen years at Lynwood Junior High School. While teaching English, she was a member of the Executive Committee of the Georgia Council of Teachers of English and was the first class room teacher to hold the office of President of the Ben Hill County Teachers Association. She worked twelve years with the Red Cross Bloodmobile. As a member of the United Daughters Of The Confederacy, Ben Hill Chapter 1137, she served at various times as Second Vice-President, Chaplain and as Recording Secretary. She did the calligraphy and pencil sketches in the bound volume, Beautification of Evergreen Cemetery, which is housed in the Geneology Room at the Ben Hill County Library. Mrs. McKinnon was a member of West Side Baptist Church, holding the office of Church Historian, Secretary-Treasurer of the Golden Harvesters and Church Clerk, retiring from that office in 2002. She designed the Church Bulletin and the Postal cards she used in her outreach work for West Side Baptist Church.
Survivors include: Stepson, N.E. McKinnon, Jr., Macon, GA., Stepdaughter, Marquerite Berry, Tampa, FL., Six Step-grandchildren; half brother, John Philip Parker; half sister, Elizabeth Parker Kalb and their children; Three nieces, Virginia P. Nichols, Powder Springs, GA, Nancy P. Taylor, Huntingtown, MD and Katherine P. Marton, Upper Marlbrough, MD, numerous great nieces and nephews and great great nieces and nephews.
Memorials may be sent to West Side Baptist Church, 612 W. Altamaha St., Fitzgerald, GA 31750 or to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, c/o Chaplain Jean Heninger, 100 Halsey St., Fitzgerald, GA 31750.