Dovie Mae Avans

Dovie Mae Dowdy Avans passed away peacefully on November 22 at New Horizons Limestone nursing facility in Gainesville, Georgia. She was a true daughter of Dahlonega and the North Georgia hills and was from one of its pioneer families. She was the daughter of Clara and David Dowdy and came from families—the Dowdys, the Perdues and the Jarrards, among others—who had been in North Georgia for many generations. She displayed the toughness and resilience of her mother Clara and of her grandmother, Eliza Jarrard Dowdy, in her almost 50-year battle with a crippling case of rheumatoid arthritis and with its many debilitating side effects.

She was born in Dahlonega but spent many years of her life in the Atlanta area, and was predeceased by her husband of 49 years, Robert Aria Avans in 2001. She was also predeceased by her parents and five of her eight brothers and sisters: Andrew Leon, William Grady, John Wesley (Sonny), Zora Lucille, and David Luther, Jr. She is survived by her daughter, Nancy Avans Bush of Madison, her sister Elizabeth of Barnesville, and her brothers Jewell and Ronald, of Dahlonega and Cleveland. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews, ranging in location from Dahlonega to Florida and west to Chicago.

Dovie was an avid gardener and a lover of the outdoors. She was especially proud of her collection of wild azaleas and of the fact that wild orchids could be found on her land. She was generous in sharing plants with her friends and in imparting her love of Nature to all who were interested. She was also a long-time member of the Episcopal Church, first at St. John’s Episcopal Church in College Park and finally at St. Elizabeth’s in Dahlonega.

There will be a visitation at Dahlonega Funeral Home on Thursday, November 29, from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M., and a service at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Dahlonega on Friday, November 30 at 11 A.M. The family asks that donations in lieu of flowers be made to: St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, 1188 Hamp Mill Road, Dahlonega, GA., 30533.