Geraldine S. Johnson gained her angel wings and went home to be with her Savior and Lord on March 25, 2021 following a brief illness. She was born in Douglas as the youngest child of Sanford and Margaret McMillan Sears on May 5, 1939.
She grew up on her family farm surrounded by her family. She attended the Old Satilla School on the Old Axson Road from 1945 until 1955 in the 10th grade. She graduated from Coffee County High School in 1957.
During her career endeavors, she worked for a bank. Then went to work at General Telephone & Electronics (GTE) which later became All-Tel and retired after almost 30 years of dedicated service in 1994. After her retirement All-Tel became Verizon. When Geraldine was well into her 50’s, she took a job with All-Tel where she had to go to climbing school to learn how to climb a telephone pole. She suited up with all the safety gear and climbed that pole. She was an active member of College Avenue Baptist Church serving her Lord in the choir, Merry Makers, prayer and Bible study groups, visitation of hospitals, nursing homes and shut-ins, and other church activities. These were the ways she demonstrated her love for her Lord and compassion for people. One of her main wishes would be for everyone to come to a saving faith in her Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, so that you could spend all eternity with her in heaven. She was a dedicated Christian who loved her husband, son and daughter-in-law, her grandsons and their wives, great grandchildren, stepchildren and all their families. But even her love for those people paled in comparison to her love for her Lord. She was ready to be “absent from the body and present with the Lord” with her family and friends in her heavenly eternal home. We like to think of her as skipping down the streets of gold without any pains or worries.
She enjoyed many things, such as Bible study, prayer, going to the mountains, watching the hummingbirds (she fed), and watching her family grow and flourish. She was a listener and not a talker. She said she learned more by listening than talking. She had a good sense of humor and was not above pulling a prank on those she loved. She went through many trials in her lifetime by going through loss of her very dearest loved ones, lymphoma treatments two times, and having covid and pneumonia two times. She endured life changes that came her way in her own positive way of knowing that the Lord is in control and that she accepted what came her way with lady-like grace, faith, and trust. She was truly loved by so many family, relatives, and friends. She will be greatly missed with a big hole in all our hearts. True love was shown by many people during her illness but her daughter-in-law, Donna, showed exceptional love by seeing that she had the care she deserved and had given to others.
She was preceded in death by her second husband, James Howard Johnson, and first husband, Curtis Purvis; parents Stanford and Margaret McMillan Sears; brother and sister-in-law Bryan and Mae Sears; sisters and brothers-in-law Nellie and Carl Chairs, Helen and Herman Henderson, Bradley Cliett and Ida Ann Byrd; grandson Cameron Purvis, step son-in-law Robert Cordero; step daughter-in-law Cindy Moore; step-great granddaughter Gracelynn Dyal.
She is survived by her son Gary (Donna) Purvis of Douglas; grandsons Michael (Audrey) Purvis of Guyton and Jake Purvis of Ellabell; great grandchildren Alyssa and Kaylee Purvis both of Guyton, Travis Wagner Purvis of Ellabell; step-children Marcia Johnson (Lee) Dyal, Sherree Moore Cordero, Mitchel Moore all of Baxley; step grandchildren Jeremy (Morgan) Dyal, Jordan Dyal, Jennifer Moore all of Baxley, James (Jessica) Johnson of Hawaii; step great grandchildren Lexa and Axton Dyal both of Baxley, Kyrie and Zoe Johnson both of Hawaii; sister: Dorothy Sears Cliett of Denton, and a “brother” raised by her parents Charles Byrd of Douglas; sister-in-law Lou Ella J. (David) Miller of Waycross, and brother-in-law Carl Johnson of Hilton Head. And many nieces, nephews, and other relatives.
Funeral services will be held at College Avenue Baptist Church on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 3:00 pm.
Interment will follow at Satilla Gardens.
The family will receive family and friends from 2:00 – 3:00 pm at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Bethany Hospice, 1400 Peterson Ave. N., Douglas, GA 31533 or College Avenue Baptist Church, 714 College Ave. S., Douglas, GA 31533