Laverne Mackin Comer

Mrs. Thelma LaVerne Mackin Comer of Magnolia Manor Nursing Center passed away February 2, 2015, just three days shy of her 103rd birthday. The older of two children, LaVerne was born in 1912 to Shivington and Lena Page Mackin of Lawrenceville, GA. She was the widow of former Butts County School Superintendent James Madison Lynwood Comer to whom she was married for 67 years before his death in 2007. LaVerne graduated from Lawrenceville High School and pursued her college education in Athens where she attended Georgia State Teacher's College (formerly the Georgia State Normal School) and graduated from the University of Georgia after the two schools merged. LaVerne was a retired Georgia elementary school teacher who taught for thirty nine years. She began her teaching career in various rural schools in and around Gwinnett County. In 1941 she was teaching in Woodbury and met a young Vocational Agriculture teacher named Lynwood Comer, and they married in December of 1941. As did many young men of that war time, Lynwood enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Knettishall, England with the 388th Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force. LaVerne remained with her parents while Mr. Comer was serving overseas during the war. Upon Mr. Comer's return they moved to Jenkinsburg, and he began teaching Vocational Agriculture in Jackson, GA. She began teaching in Locust Grove, and soon was hired to teach third grade in Jackson, where she was one of only a few teachers who held a full Bachelor of Science Degree in Education when she was hired to teach in the Butts County School System. Butts County was to be the home for these two educators for 45 years. LaVerne and Lynwood were emeritus members of Georgia State Retired Educators. In her early retirement, LaVerne began playing the piano again, and she and Lynwood traveled extensively, throughout the United States, and even went to Knettishall, England where he had been stationed during World War II. The Comers lived in Griffin for several years and then moved to Magnolia Manor in Americus in 2003. Mr. Comer passed away in 2007. LaVerne had the uncanny ability to recite long passages of poetry -- "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and "Days of Wine and Roses," and to sing "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" even at age 102. Also a former teacher of Spanish and French, she could still recall a phrase or two in both languages. Ever the mathematician, she could still complete multiplication and division worksheets without any mistakes. LaVerne was extremely gifted and loved encouraging her students' artistic ability. She enriched the lives of all those she taught. She is survived by her sons Reggie and Bruce Comer. Reggie is a retired French professor from GSW State University, and he and his wife, Mary, reside in Americus, GA. Bruce is a retired business man, and he and his wife Susan, live in Griffin, GA. LaVerne was the proud grandmother and great grandmother of David (Mary) Comer of Summerville, South Carolina, and their two daughters, Ella and Martha; Clay (Leigh Anne) Comer of Columbus, GA, and their daughter, Savannah; Stephen (Natalie) Comer of Charlottesville, VA, and their four children, Emma, Asher, Jonas, and Lily; and Carin (Peter) Villeneuve of Lakeville, MASS, and their three children, Gabriel, Ariel, and Luke. Her sister, Mary Earle Mackin, preceded her in death by one day. A double visitation for the two sisters will be conducted at Hancock Funeral Home from 3:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2015, with graveside funeral services for them to begin at 5:00 p.m. that afternoon in Oak Grove Cemetery. Rev. Jim Smith will officiate. To sign our online register and send your condolences to the family, please visit hancockfuneralhomeinc.com. Hancock Funeral Home, 427 South Lee Street, is honored to be entrusted with these arrangements for Mrs. Thelma LaVerne Mackin Comer.