Obituaries

Blackshear, Georgia

Mrs. Huel Pauline Peacock Walker, 99 of Blackshear, passed away Monday afternoon (July 5, 2010) at her home in Blackshear.

Mrs. Walker was born in Blackshear on November 28, 1910 and was a daughter of the late Benjamin Martin & Georgie Kirby Peacock. Her paternal great great grandfather, Benjamin James was the namesake for Ben James Primitive Baptist Church in Hacklebarney. Mrs. Walker’s paternal great-great-great grandfather is one of two American Revolutionary soldiers buried at the Shiloh Cemetery in Pierce County.

On November 29, 1933, Mrs. Walker married Lyman Jackson Walker, who was a 1929 Blackshear High School classmate, at the home of Colonel and Mrs. Warren Lott. Mrs. Walker shared many joyful times with family and friends throughout her life as she visited Tybee Beach, Savannah, St. Simons Island and Fernandina. A faithful wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, she had a contagious smile and devotion for everyone in her path.

Mrs. Walker received her B.S. degree in Elementary Education from Valdosta State University and a degree in Developing the Mentally Challenged from the University of Georgia. She was a teacher and principal in the Pierce County Schools for 28 years. The last sixteen years were in special education which she pioneered in the Pierce County School system. In 1972, she was selected as Special Education Teacher of the Year.

Mrs. Walker was a ruling Elder in the Blackshear Presbyterian Church where she had attended since she was four years old. She had the longest church membership in the church at the time of her death (78 years). She was a devoted member of the church: a bible scholar, member of the choir, Sunday School Teacher, president of the Women of the Church and a circle leader. She served as Youth Advisor in the church and Savannah Presbytery, on the Worship, Christian Education, and Witness committees, and was a Commissioner to Savannah Presbytery. She was Spiritual Growth chairman for the Women of the Presbyterian Church of Savannah Presbytery. Mrs. Walker attended Synodical Training School for many years and graduated from the Savannah Presbytery’s School of the Laity at Epworth-by-the-Sea.

Her dedication also extended to her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, John Floyd Chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma Society and the Tau chapter of which she and her daughter, Mary Lott Walker, were the first mother-daughter members. She was a member of the Georgia Association of Retired Educators of Pierce County, where she provided the devotional for many years as well as being the legislative chairperson for the organization; the Exchange Club of Blackshear where she served as Book of Golden Deeds chairperson and provided the club with a weekly “Thought for the Day;” Parnasus Poetry Society; Waycross Community concert Association; Pierce County Chamber of Commerce; and a charter member of the Pierce County Historical and Genealogical Society. The “Huel Peacock Walker Educator of the Year” award is presented each year at the Pierce County Chamber of Commerce banquet to an outstanding classroom teacher in her honor.

Mrs. Walker was a published author and her work appeared in Delta Kappa Gamma publications; Georgia Magazine; The Pierce Poet; Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin; Walker, The Littleberry Bunch by Randall M. Walker, Jr.; These Days, and numerous other publications. Mrs. Walker won second place in the Waycross Journal Herald Poet’s Corner contest and won first place in Parnassus Poetry Society Poet’s convention contest in 1988. As president of the Blackshear High School Class of 1929, an office she held throughout her life, she was awarded the Leadership, Inspiration, and Faithful Service honor by the class of 1929 on their Golden Anniversary in 1979.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Walker was preceded in death by her husband who passed away in 1986 after 53 years of marriage, Lyman Jackson Walker; a sister Mildred Kirby Peacock Talbert of Phoenix, Arizona; a half sister, Abbie Stephens Gibson of Thomasville, Ga.

Survivors include three daughters, Mary Lott Walker of Blackshear, Margaret Anne Walker Guss (husband Earl R. Guss, Jr.) of Belleville, Illinois and Judith Elizabeth Walker Duke (husband Rev. James E. Duke, Jr.) of Macon; five grandchildren, David Michael Guss of Seattle, Washington, John Walker Guss of Hillsborough, N.C., Mary Elizabeth Guss Kiernan (husband Noel Kiernan) of Fernandina Beach, Fla., Mary Margaret Duke of Macon, Rev. Rebecca Elizabeth Duke-Barton (husband Rev. Garth Duke-Barton) of Whigham, Ga., five great grandchildren, Madison Walker Kiernan and Liam Russell Kiernan of Fernandina Beach, Fla., Daniel James Duke-Barton, Susannah Elizabeth Duke-Barton, and Samuel Aaron Duke-Barton of Whigham, Ga., a sister, Anne Peacock Bishop Gorman Wiser of Katy, Texas, a half sister, Jean Peacock Henson of Baytown, Texas; a nephew, Alvin Walker, Jr. (wife Pam) of Blackshear and many other loving nieces and nephews along with a faithful friend, Melba Whitley.