Rose Willis

Rose Thornton Willis, 84, of Bainbridge, GA, passed away Thursday, December 28, 2017.The funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at Ivey Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Watson McKemie and Rev. Mike Brown officiating. Interment will be at Roselawn Memory Gardens.The family will receive friends immediately following the service. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.iveyfuneral.com . Memorial donations may be made to Bainbridge First United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 541, Bainbridge, GA 39818.Lena Rose Thornton was born January 27, 1933 in Morgan, GA, the daughter of James Theodore Thornton and Mary Ruth McKemie Thornton . She was a graduate of Morgan High School, Class of 1950, and Georgia College with a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education. Rose was a member of First United Methodist Church.Rose loved children and took hundreds under her wing until her retirement from Decatur County Schools. She thought of them as her own and treated them as such by sharing her love for history and the arts. Rose was an active member of United Methodist Women where she continued to serve others with her gentle ways and kind spirit. She enjoyed participating in activities with Bainbridge-Decatur County Council of the Arts, Decatur County Historical Society and United Daughters of the Confederacy. Rose was also a long time patron of Bainbridge Little Theatre.Survivors include several cousins and a special friend and caregiver, Crystal Boatwright. In addition to her parents, Rose was preceded in death by her husband, James Ellington "Hap" Willis, and her sister, Ruth Thornton.