Aug. 27, 1940 –

July 4, 2013

Services for Joan “Judy” Joyce Coburn Mills, 72, of Whigham, Ga., who passed away on Thursday, July 4, 2013, at her home, will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 6, at the Chapel of Clark Funeral Home. The Rev. Dennis Foster will officiate. Interment will be in Pine Level Cemetery, in Cairo, Ga.

Active pallbearers will be Junior Haney, Ridge Strickland, Bill Bland, Tim Strickland, Nicholas Copeland and Jamie Chestnut.

Mrs. Mills was born on Aug. 27, 1940, in Toledo, Ohio, to the late Earl Varland Coburn and Lillian Olive Martin Coburn. On Oct. 28, 1961, she married David Lynn Mills. In 1976, Joan became the first female EMT in Cairo. She enjoyed water activities, such as water ballet and synchronized swimming. She also enjoyed dancing and danced competitively from 1998 to 2003 and placed 14th at the World Country Dance Championship.

Survivors include her husband, David Mills of Whigham; daughters and sons-in-law, Lisa and Eddie McKinnon, of Willacoochee, Ga., Kathryn and Tim Strickland, of Colquitt, Ga., Darnise and Bill Bland, of Melton/Alpharetta, Ga.; grandchildren, Wendy and Nick Copeland, of Valdosta, Ga., Constance Davis, of Thomasville, Ga., Brittany and Nick Mathis, of Wicksburg, Ala., Sarah Palen, of Macon, Ga., Paige Bland of Melton/Alpharetta, Ridge Strickland of Colquitt, Madison Bland of Melton/Alpharetta, Aden Strickland of Colquitt, Cara McKinnon, of Columbia, S.C., Jeb McKinnon, of Helena, Mont.; great-grandchildren, Logan Palen of Macon, Caroline Copeland of Valdosta, Ayden Perkins of Columbia, Landon and Addison McKinnon of Helena, Mont., Analei Tondee of Thomasville, Olivia and Noah Davis of Thomasville, Kaylin and Emmalee Mathis, of Wicksburg; brother and sister-in-law, Marvin and Cindy Coburn, of Adrian, Mich.; sister and brother-in-law, Kathleen and Junior Haney, of Oregon, Ohio.

Clark Funeral Home of Cairo is in charge.