Obituary of Helen Sue Thrift

Rev. Helen Sue Thrift of Warner Robins, Georgia, died after a brief illness on Monday, November 12, 2007, in Macon, Georgia. Born in Lakeland, Florida, she graduated from Lakeland High School. She received a B.A. from Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina, and a master?s degree from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. She was consecrated a diaconal minister in the United Methodist Church in 1977 and was ordained a deacon in 1998. She was minister of education at First United Methodist Church in Warner Robins, Georgia, for ten years, having previously served as director of Christian education in United Methodist churches in Columbia, South Carolina; Hendersonville, North Carolina; Statesboro and Valdosta, Georgia; and Haddonfield, New Jersey. She also taught school in New Jersey. She found joy in her work as an educator and touched the lives of countless children in her ministry in the church and as an elementary school teacher. She was a member of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. She belonged to the Christian Educators Fellowship and the South Georgia and Southeastern Jurisdiction Historical Societies of the United Methodist Church. Helen Sue was preceded in death by her mother and father, Ruth K. and Charles T. Thrift, Jr., of Lakeland, Florida, and is survived by her sister, Nell Thrift, of Lakeland, Florida, and her sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Carlile Chambers, of Atlanta, Georgia. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, November 16, 2007, at First United Methodist Church in Warner Robins. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 205 North Davis Drive, Warner Robins, Georgia 31093, or to the Ruth K. and Charles T. Thrift, Jr., Scholarship Fund, Florida Southern College, 111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive, Lakeland, Florida 33801. Heritage Memorial Funeral Home in Warner Robins is in charge of arrangements.