Leaviolia Garris

Mrs. Leaviolia Garris March 13, 1929 - September 23, 2022 Funeral service for Mrs. Leaviolia Garris will be Friday, September 30, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. at the Nelms Memorial Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Larry Bailey officiating. Visitation will be prior to the funeral on Friday, September 30, 2022 ~ 12:00-1:00 p.m. ~~~ Mrs. Leaviolia D. Garris was born March 13, 1929 in Swainsboro, GA to Wallace and Sally Mae Dixon. She spent most of her childhood in Philadelphia, PA and later moved to St. Louis, MO, where she graduated from Sumner High School in 1946. She continued her education at Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, AL, graduating with her Bachelors of Science in Physical Education in 1949. Leaviolia (Lea) began her career wearing many hats teaching junior high physical education, modern dance, and organizing Pontiac’s first girls track team. She also conducted several workshops in track and field at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. Additionally, during this time she earned her Master’s Degree in Guidance Counseling from Wayne State University located in Detroit, MI in 1969. She became a guidance counselor at Pontiac Central High School, Pontiac, MI and after 30 plus years of advising countless students, she retired in 1990. Leaviolia was a member of Delta Sigma Theta at Tuskegee Institute and was a charter member of the graduate chapter in Pontiac, MI. She was also a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society of Outstanding Women Educators. Leaviolia firmly believed in the power of receiving a proper education and passed on that belief to her family and students. While education was an important pillar in her life, her love for God and love for her family and friends stood taller. At the early age of 7, Leaviolia found comfort in turning to God. Throughout her adult life she sought her own spiritual truth which led her to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, where she became a member of Mt. Zion Seventh Day Adventist Church, Scottsboro, AL. Leaviolia was a woman of strong faith, integrity, perseverance, wisdom, caring, and elegance. She enjoyed conducting/planning events such as her birthday club, church fund raisers/suppers, taught Sabbath school and was active in church outreach. She enjoyed flower/vegetable gardening, sewing, and hosting countless gatherings at her home where she loved to provide a good meal and fellowship. She is preceded in death by: her parents Wallace and Sally Mae Dixon; eldest brother, John Dixon; younger brother, Wallace Dixon II; uncle, Roy Coleman; and a dear cousin, Dora Howell. She leaves to mourn: her daughter, Holly Garris of Huntsville, AL; grandson, Tyler Garris of Franklin, TN; granddaughter, Aleah Garris of Pittsburgh, PA; nephew, Wallace Dixon III, of Blackwood, NJ; cousins, Herbert (Gloria) Coleman of Dover, DE, Linda Cummings of Rochester, NY, Dorothy (Johnnie) Graves of Brunswick, GA, Tommie (Samuel) Hickson of Augusta, GA, Ruth (Charles) Jones of Augusta, GA, Ruby and Sheila Davis of Earlington, KY, and Rosa Lee Morgan and family of Springfield, OH; loving and devoted friends, Rosanna Davis of Fort Payne, AL, Yvonne Ferguson of Pontiac, MI, Milton and Marilyn Hill of Clarkston, MI, Steve and Lynette Yarnall of Clarkston, MI; the Mt. Zion SDA Church, Scottsboro, AL, the Apostolic Church of Auburn Hills, MI; and a host of other extended family, friends and caregivers.