STATESBORO, Ga. -- Mrs. Evelyn Akins Deal, age 88, died in the Ogeechee Area Hospice facility on September 3, 2012, after a long illness. Mrs. Deal was born on November 28, 1923, in Bulloch County, Georgia, and lived here most of her life. The daughter of a farmer, she worked hard in the fields, chopping and picking cotton and picking tobacco. She enjoyed many fun times with her sister, Jenny, who was also her best friend, and enjoyed visiting with a large group of first cousins. Mrs. Deal was smart, pretty, organized and witty. She began dating the love of her life, Miles Deal, in high school, and while he was serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, she wrote to him every single day. They married on March 31, 1946, and remained happily married until his death in 2005. They were an unusually devoted couple, and friends often remarked that when you saw one of them, you saw the other. She and her husband loved to square dance and attended many square dance conventions all over the southeastern United States. Mrs. Deal was a wonderful homemaker, an excellent seamstress and enjoyed being a stay at home wife and mother. She was devoted to her husband and loved her children dearly. She always had such fun with her grandchildren and enjoyed being with them. When she was employed outside of the home, she worked as a bookkeeper, first at Sea Island Bank and later on at the former Bulloch County Bank. Whatever she did, she did to the best of her ability and it was always done well. She loved playing cards and was a fierce competitor. Over the years, she enjoyed playing Set-Back and Hand and Foot. Mrs. Deal is survived by her two daughters and sons-in-law, Lyn and Bob Deal of Statesboro, Ga., and Susan and Bill Harris of Winter Garden, Fla.; and her son, M. Frank Deal of Jacksonville, Fla. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Jay and Amy Deal, Woodstock, Ga., Amy and Chad Deal, Lawrenceville, Ga., and Kaitlin, Meg and Will Harris, Winter Garden, Fla.; and four great-grandchildren, Dillon and Bea Deal, Woodstock Ga., and Max and Everett Deal, Lawrenceville, Ga. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Frank Deal, Jay Deal, Will Harris, Bob Deal, Bill Harris and Chad Deal. Honorary pallbearers will be her dear friends and card-playing buddies, the Middleground Tuesday Afternoon Hand and Foot Card Club. Visitation will be held on Thursday, September 6,2012, from 5-8 p.m. at Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home in Statesboro. The funeral will be held on Friday, September 7, 2012, at 11 a.m. in the chapel of Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home with the Rev. Wes Moye officiating. Interment will be in Bulloch Memorial Gardens.
The family requests that memorial contributions be made to Ogeechee Area Hospice, P.O. Box 531, Statesboro, Ga. 30459.
Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home of Statesboro is in charge of the arrangements.

Statesboro Herald, September 5, 2012