Lizzie J was a well-known & much loved early Worth County schoolteacher. Daughter of Robert Lee Deariso & Mary E. "Mollie" Ford Deariso. Robert Lee Deariso was one of the many children of Michael Washington Deariso & Martha Jane Ross. M.W. is buried in Mt. Horeb Cemetery, Worth County, Ga., & Martha Jane in Hillcrest Cemetery. Lizzie J. did not marry or have any children. (RDB)

From History of Worth County, Vol. II:

Elizabeth Jane (Lizzie J.) Deariso was descended from pioneer
settlers of Worth County. Her parents, Robert Lee Deariso and
Mollie Ford Deariso, lived in the 16th Militia District of Worth
County, where she was born on October 23, 1897.

She was educated in the schools of Worth County and
graduated from McPhaul Institute when it provided only ten
grades of schooling. She attended G.N.I.C. located in Mil-
ledgeville, Georgia, now known as Georgia College. From that
institution she received a normal arts diploma which gave her
a teaching certificate. Later she received a BS in Education
from the same college.

Her career of teaching began in the Worth County schools
in 1918. Her first teaching position was at Acorn Pond School
near Warwick. She was principal and taught fifth through the
ninth grades. From 1919 to 1945 she taught social studies and
English in the Sylvester High School. In 1936 she received
a Master of Arts degree from the University of Georgia. She
became Instructional Supervisor for the Worth County Schools
in the fall of 1945. She held this position until January 1957
when she became Superintendent of Worth County Schools.

During her superintendency the schools were consolidated,
and the building program which had been begun prior to her
election was completed. A lunchroom and an elementary
building were constructed at Sumner during her term of office.
Bonds were voted for a gymnatorium at the Worth County
High School and a gymnasium at Holley High. A wing and
an Industrial Arts Building were added to the high school.
Also a new bus shop at Isabella was built. Improvements at
the football stadium included a paved track, a remodeled field
house and new lighting for football fields at Worth County
High and Holley High.

April 18, 1968, was proclaimed by Mayor Lawhorne of
Sylvester as Elizabeth J. Deariso Day. A banquet sponsored
by the Worth County Teachers Association honoring her for
the fifty years of service to the Worth County Schools was
the main feature of the day.

Miss Deariso was an active member of the First Baptist
Church for over a half century. She served
as Sunday School teacher from the Junior Department to the
Senior Department, as leader in Training Union, and as a
worker in the W.M.U.

She was active in many civic, patriotic and educational
organizations serving in PTA, Daughters of the American
Revolution, Woman's Club, Business and Professional Club,
American Legion Auxiliary, Worth County Health Board, and
Library Board. She was a member of XI Chapter Delta Kappa
Gamma and a member of Kappa Delta Pi, honor societies
in education.

In recognition of her service, she was listed in Who's
Who in American Education, Who's Who of American Women,
Who's Who in the South and Southwest Dictionary of In-
ternational Biography and Personalities of the South.