A Celebration of Life Service with catered reception for Julia will be held Thursday, March 31, 2022, at 11:00 AM at Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home, 3321 Glynn Ave, Brunswick, Georgia, with Rev. Bill Culpepper officiating. Following the funeral service and catered reception a private interment will be held at Chapel Park Cemetery.
Mrs. Cleveland is formerly of Rocky Face, Georgia, but had resided in Brunswick, Georgia, for over twenty-five years. She was born on August 6, 1937, in Ashland, Alabama. Her parents were Dewey Nicholson Williams and Ruth Anna Fields Williams. After graduating from Lincoln High School in Lincoln, Alabama, she attended the University of Alabama, but left to begin her teaching career at the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama. She continued her education at Jacksonville State College in Alabama, where she met her husband, James Earl Cleveland. After marrying in 1959, she taught English in Dade County, Georgia, and finished her B.S. degree at the University of Chattanooga. She moved to Whitfield County, Georgia, where she taught English at Westside High School and earned her M.Ed. and Ed.S. degrees from West Georgia College. She later became an assistant principal at Northwest Whitfield High School before being named principal at Lafayette High School in Walker County. She returned to Northwest one year later to serve as principal until she retired in 1991.
She was preceded in death by her parents and one brother, Billy Gunter Williams.
She is survived by a son, Paul Cleveland of Tampa, Florida; a daughter, Leslie (Duane) Scarboro of Brunswick, Georgia; and her grandchildren, Foster Cleveland and Bree Cleveland of Tampa, Florida; and Grace Horton, Lila Horton, and Walker Scarboro of Brunswick, Georgia. Also surviving are one sister, Jean Wynn of Brunswick, Georgia; two brothers, James David Williams of Gainesville, Florida; and Dewey Nicholson Williams, Jr., of Monroe, Georgia; and several nieces and nephews.
She was a member of First United Methodist Church of Brunswick. She was also an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International for 56 years as well as the local chapter of the Georgia Retired Educators Association, serving in many leadership roles within both organizations. She also loved to travel and took numerous trips throughout the United States and abroad. She was an avid fan of both University of Alabama football and Atlanta Braves baseball.
A special thank you is extended to the Southeast Georgia Health System staff for their care and attention during her illness.
A reception for family and friends will be held at Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home immediately following the service. A private interment will be held at Chapel Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Julia W. Cleveland’s name to First United Methodist Church of Brunswick’s Abiding Memorial Fund, 1400 Norwich St, Brunswick, GA 31520 or to Hospice of the Golden Isles.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.edomillerandsons.com for the Cleveland family.
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