Mildred Wellons Tyler, 97, died after a brief illness on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, at Perfect Care in Americus. She was born April 25, 1923, in Plains, Georgia, the second child of Otis and Ethel McGarrah Wellons. She grew up in the rural Sumter County community of Friendship, where she moved with her mother and sisters after the early death of her father in 1930. As a country girl, she was active in 4-H Club work, in 1940 winning the state award for “general excellence” and achieving the coveted status of “Master 4-H’er.” She was a graduate of Americus High School and of the Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing. After brief service in the Cadet Nursing Corps at the end of World War II, she returned to Americus and worked for many years in the practice of Dr. Schley Gatewood. She later enjoyed her part-time work in the family planning clinics of the Health Departments of Dooly, Macon and Sumter Counties.

The Baptist church was central to her long life, from early membership at Friendship Baptist Church, to serving as president of the Baptist Student Union at Georgia Baptist School of Nursing, to working with Vacation Bible School and serving on the long-range planning committee at Central Baptist Church in Americus. She was a faithful member of her Sunday School class there and sang in the Silvertones Choir. Her other volunteer activities included serving as a Girl Scout leader and on the board of the Flint River Girl Scout Council, participation in Band Boosters at Americus High School, and working at Red Cross blood drives. She was a talented maker of crafts of her own design, always grew beds of colorful flowers, no matter the season, and for years, tilled a backyard garden. She enjoyed canning, pickling, preserving and freezing all manner of fruits and vegetables. For the past four and a half years, she resided at Magnolia Manor in Americus. Until only a few weeks before her death, she kept up a regular correspondence with a wide network of acquaintances, frequently sending notes of encouragement and congratulation.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 52 years, Ralph D. Tyler, her sister Hilda Moore, and her daughter Beth Tyler Sandock. Survivors include her daughters Pamela Tyler, of New Orleans, and Sally Tyler, of Washington DC; a sister-in-law and nephew, Roberta Tyler and Mark Tyler, of Americus, and two cousins, Liza Parker and Joe Daniel, also of Americus.

Burial at Lebanon Cemetery in Plains will be private. The family suggests that anyone desiring to honor her memory might make a contribution in her name to the Friendship Camp, c/o Friendship Baptist Association, 504 E. Oglethorpe Street, Ellaville GA 31806.

To sign our online guestbook and express your condolences to the family, please visit www.hancockfuneralhomeinc.com

Hancock Funeral Home, 427 South Lee Street, is in charge of arrangements.