Jesse Carl Mullis

Jesse Carl “J.C.” Mullis died October 7, 2018 after several years of declining health. He was born January 21, 1926 in Grady County, Georgia, to Jesse Carl Mullis, Sr. and Bernice Williams Mullis. His parents and five sisters predeceased him. He is survived by his wife,  Legene Brown Mullis and son Jay Mullis of Athens, and a daughter, Elissa Mullis-Heil (Eugene Heil) of Charlottesville, Virginia.

J.C. graduated from Pelham High School in 1943 and soon joined the U. S. Marine Corps. He served in the Pacific theater until the end of World War II. Like so many returning veterans, J.C. used the GI Bill for college. He graduated from Florida State University in 1950 and was a member of the K A Fraternity.

In 1953, he married Legene Brown in Bainbridge, Georgia.

His career in education began in Decatur County, Georgia and later in Mitchell County. He received his master’s degree from Florida State in 1959. J.C., Legene and their children moved to Athens in 1959. He worked for the Clarke County School System and received his EdD from the University of Georgia.

After his retirement, J.C. became the first fulltime director of the Georgia Retired Teachers Association. One of his duties was to lobby annually for retired educators at the Georgia General Assembly. For eleven years he served on the Board of Trustees of the Teacher’s Retirement representing the retired teachers and their interests.

J.C. was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Athens where he served as a deacon and elder.

The family will receive friends at Lord & Stephen East Thursday, October 11, 2018 from 6-8PM.

His ashes will be interred later in Bainbridge, Georgia at the Oak City Cemetery in the Brown Family lot.

The family wants to thank everyone at Quiet Oaks Health Care Center in Crawford, Georgia for their kindness and support.

Memorials may be sent to Thornwell Home for Children, 302 South Broad Street, Clinton, SC 29325-9972.

Lord & Stephens East is in charge of arrangements. www.lordandstephens.com