Willa L. “Bill” Church Koran, 86, of Tifton died Thursday, May 12, 2011, at Golden Living Center. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, 2011, in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. Dr. W. Ches Smith, III will officiate with a private family interment to be held at a later date in Lake Erie. Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Chandler, Oleda Britt, Alice Jernigan and Kathy Berry will serve as honorary escort. The family will receive friends on Sunday, May 15, 2011, immediately following the service at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Mrs. Koran was born on July 6, 1924 in Youngstown, Ohio and was the daughters of Walter A. Church and Sarah Whan Church, both deceased. She graduated from South High School in Youngstown, Ohio in 1942 and from Duke University in 1946. Willa was a case worker for the American Red Cross in Mahoning County, Ohio and taught school until her marriage to Frank Douglas Koran in July of 1949. She later returned to the Red Cross as a volunteer case worker.
Willa and her husband, Frank, moved to Newnan in 1953, where she was very active in the community. She was a member of the Junior Welfare League, Vice-Chairman for Coweta County Red Cross, an active member of Grey Ladies, as well as a member of the Lady Newnan Golf Association. She was also a member of the Central Baptist Church, where she taught children’s Sunday school.
After moving to Tifton in 1966, Willa became a member of Tifton’s First Baptist Church, where she became active in the hospital ministry. She also taught the Mary Youmans adult Sunday school class for 19 years.
Willa is survived by her husband, Frank Koran of Tifton; four sons, Walter Koran and his friend, Joan Lewis, of Saint Simons Island, Bill Koran and his friend, Janna Bush, of Port Saint Joe, Florida, David Koran and his wife, Gay Turner Koran, of Newnan and Jon Koran and his wife, Tammy Ross Koran, of Tifton; three granddaughters, Katherine, Kansas and Samantha Koran; and one grandson, Will Koran.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Tift County Humane Society Animal Shelter, 278 Highway 125 South, Tifton, GA 31794.