Lula Jerrilyn Larkin

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. I John 5:11-12, KJV.

Lula Jerrilyn McGhee Larkin was born first of three children of Robert Archie and Lula Belle (Dowdell) McGhee in Troy, Alabama on December 5, 1945. She passed away on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at the age of 75.

She graduated from Academy Street High School as valedictorian of the Class of 1963. In 1967 she earned the Bachelor of Arts degree at Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) and in 1973 the M.S. Ed. Degree from Troy State University [AL] (now Troy University).

In February 1968 she married Charles “C.B.” Larkin. Her only and dearly beloved child, Ronald “Ronnie” Larkin, came to live with them in 1970. They all relocated together in August 1973 to Warner Robins, Georgia. The dissolution of the marriage followed shortly thereafter.

Jerrilyn received Jesus Christ as her personal Savior in March of 1974 through the ministry of missionaries, Rev. Thomas (Sr.) and Mrs. Lorraine Carstarphen. The Lord Jesus Christ, according to the precious Word of God, remained the everlasting love of her life.

Her teaching career spanned two states (Alabama and Georgia), all education levels from kindergarten through adult education and college in the following school systems: Troy City Schools (AL); and Houston, Bibb and Wilkinson County Schools in Georgia. She also served as interim Reference Librarian and interim Children’s Librarian with the Houston County Public Library in Warner Robins and intermittently as an adjunct and temporary full-time instructor at Fort Valley State University. She also served as program director for the Rainbow Road Child Care Center, Area Coordinator for Save the Children’s USDA-sponsored Child Nutrition Program, Director of Georgia’s Reading Challenge After-School Program (all in WR), and for four summers she was an instructor with the Upward Bound programs at Mercer University and Fort Valley State University. She tutored many young people in reading and writing and shared Jesus Christ with many people who have contributed exceptionally to the spiritual lives of others.

She was briefly staff writer for the Georgia Informer and later was a frequent contributor to the Middle Georgia Informer (both publications based in Macon). She often contributed letters to the editors of several other local newspapers and much earlier had articles published in New South and Essence magazines.

Working with African American businessmen, Daryl Bentley and Preston Brown, she researched, advocated for, and received a Georgia Historical Society marker noting slave interments in the Oak Ridge section of Macon’s Rose Hill Cemetery. They were assisted by Mrs. Marvia Cleveland Mitchell, Rose Hill Cemetery administrator.

Jerrilyn was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a Silver Life Member of the NAACP, having served as branch secretary for the Houston County branch for six years.

She leaves love and many prayers, as they practice the Great Commission and the Great and Second Commandments in service to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for: Aletheia Baptist Church (Macon), Community Bible Church (WR), Evergreen Baptist Church (WR), Fellowship Bible Baptist Church (WR), First Missionary Baptist Church/Garmon Street (WR), Greater St. Paul A.M.E. Church (Troy), Green Acres Baptist Church (WR), New Haven Baptist Church (WR), Sandbed Baptist Church (Kathleen, GA), Second Baptist Church (WR), SPOLIWA Bible Camp Ministries (Jeffersonville, GA), Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church (WR), and Warner Robins C.M.E. Church (WR).

Her beloved survivors include her son, Ronald/Gail and their daughters, Sierra and Savannah of Gwinnett County, GA; a sister, Voncile McGhee Hodges of Dekalb County, GA, her daughter, Tracy and grandson, Tellis, Jr.; a brother, Robert Jr./Johnnie Mae McGhee of Indiana, their daughter, Deidra/Chuck and granddaughters, Eboni and Jada. An uncle, Charles Dowdell of Alabama and two aunts, Mrs. Eula Smith Williams of Michigan and Mrs. Hester Dowdell Wilson of Alabama, all cherished and in their nineties survive also. A host of cousins too numerable to name live on and are loved, everyone. Her closest, dearest Christian sister-friends include Mrs. Deloris (Tuft) Roberts, Mrs. Eddie Mae Redding Williams, and Mrs. Francis Dawson Turner. She enjoyed telephone fellowship with Mrs. Lorraine Davis White. I praise the Lord for each and all of you! Live on, enjoy laughable memories of me, and continue to love Jesus Christ and pray for others. AMEN! [Obituary prepared by Jerrilyn McGhee Larkin, 9/20]

A memorial gathering will take place on Saturday, December 11, 2021, from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. at McCullough Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life will immediately follow at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of McCullough Funeral Home.

For friends unable to attend at this time, the service will be streamed live via the McCullough Funeral Home Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mcculloughfuneralhome/live/.

Learn about the measures McCullough Funeral Home is taking to ensure the health and safety of our guests at mcculloughfh.com. There you can also sign an Online Registry for the family. McCullough Funeral Home and Crematory has the privilege of being entrusted with these arrangements.