The funeral services for the late Mrs. Lillie Graddic of 2770 Georgia Hwy. 159, Ashburn, Georgia, who departed this life on Sunday, June 5, 2022 at her residence, will be held on Saturday, June 11, 2022, 11:00 a.m. from the St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Ashburn, Georgia with the Reverend Dr. Marvin Brown, Presiding, and Reverend Aldonnie Laster delivering the Eulogy. Burial will follow in the Westview Memorial Cemetery in Ashburn, Georgia. Services may be viewed Facebook Live from the "Shipps Funeral Home" Facebook page or by clicking the Video Stream link on this site's Home Page.

Mrs. Lillie Mae Laster Graddic was born August 6, 1937 to the late Mr. and Mrs. Everette and Minnie Lee Lynn Laster in Eufaula, Alabama. She was the youngest of twelve children. Lillie Mae was born premature, and the doctor informed her mother that she would not live. But Minnie Lee believed and trusted in God and nurtured Lillie. Lillie’s eldest sister, Katheleen Laster Morris, nursed Lillie along with her son, John Henry. God blessed Lillie to live 84 years. To God Be The Glory!

Lillie was educated in the Turner County Public School System at that time. She graduated from Eureka High School on Lee Street in 1956. She furthered her education at the Meadows College of Business in Albany, Georgia, and graduated on October 6, 1989 with a degree in Accounting Technician. She later became a Certified Nurse Aide when she moved to Tampa, Florida and went back to school to become a Certified Nurse Tech.

At an early age, Lillie professed her life to Christ and became a member of Freemont AME Church in Bakerhill, Alabama. Her family moved to Sylvester, Georgia, and she joined the Zion Grove Baptist Church. Later in her life, Lillie moved to Turner County, Georgia, and she moved her membership to New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Sibley, Georgia, under the leadership of the late Reverend Leroy Atkins. As her life progressed, she moved to Ashburn, Georgia and joined the New Providence Missionary Baptist Church under the leaderships of the late Reverend J. J. Johnson, former Pastor, Reverend Booker T. Rose, and current Pastor, Reverend Dr. Marvin Brown. Lillie Mae served in many capacities within the church. God blessed her with the late Sis. Alveria Lewis and the late Sis. Martha Hayes Gray, who gave her the opportunity of becoming the President of the NPBC Young Adult Choir. She later moved to Tampa, Florida and joined the Beulah Baptist Institutional Church under the leadership of Dr. W. James Favorite, where she served faithfully on the Mother Board for over twenty years.

Lillie worked at the Manhattan Shirt Factory in Ashburn, Georgia, Gold Kist Peanut Company as a grader, and Tifton Health Care as a CNA. When she moved to Florida she worked at Padgett Nursing Home, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and transferred to St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital until she retired at age seventy.

Lillie moved back to Ashburn, Georgia four years ago, along with her second oldest daughter, Patricia Walker-Pace, who became her full-time caregiver due to her decline in health. They lived with her eldest daughter and son-in-law.

On Sunday, June 5, 2022, Mother Graddic transitioned from Labor to Rest. She did not suffer, she just went to sleep. Preceding her death were her parents, Everette and Minnie Laster, her siblings, Katheleen, Ethel, Essie, Arthur, Ephan, Charlie, three died at childbirth, a son, Cedric Laster, and her two husbands.

She leaves to cherish her memories her children, Gwendolyn (Everette) Mathis, Patricia Walker (Steve) Pace, Gwendolyn Diane (James) Rush, Erica Graddic, Monica L. Walker, all of Ashburn, Georgia, Janet Graddic (Roger) of Clermont, Florida, Juliet Graddic, Jerome David Graddic, Jr., both of Tampa, Florida; her siblings, Lalor Mae Laster of Hempstead, New York, James (Laura) Laster of Ashburn, Georgia; her in-laws, Mae Walker of Ashburn, Georgia, Mary Walker of Atlanta, Georgia, Mary Giles of McDonough, Georgia; a host of grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.