AKINS, Joyce Louise Dunham Akins passed gently away on the first of May, 2016. She died of natural causes at home in her sleep, as she had hoped, after 93 full years. She was surrounded by husband of 64 years, John O. Akins, who was the love of her life and her best friend, and five generations of her family. Mrs. Akins was born in August 1922 to Mr. and Mrs. B. W. Dunham in Wilmington, North Carolina, to begin a life so rich that no one of us can fully appreciate it. She was a stellar student in class and out, graduating Valedictorian, Summa Cum Laude from East Carolina University in 1943, with too many honors to list. She was an unprecedented President of both Junior and Senior Classes, and was named an all-time Top 100 ECU student, at a time when only 1 in 25 women attended college. She then taught English, French, and Spanish in Wilmington, before blazing trails by moving to Children's Village in New York to teach underprivileged children. She later moved to teach at Savannah High, where she met and married the man that would share the rest of her life. She raised three sons as they trekked across four states, finding time along the way to direct church choirs, and teach part- and full-time in Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, and back to Georgia. Her students were all educated; many were transformed. She will be deeply missed by her devoted husband, her three sons and their wives, John and Cindy, Bob and Anais, James and Lori, their families, niece Ellen James and nephew Arthur Jeffords, seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, and untold numbers of students, friends, and brief acquaintances, who have been forever changed and uplifted for having known her. The family will receive friends from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M. on Tuesday May 3rd at the H. M. Patterson & Son Oglethorpe Hill Chapel, 4550 Peachtree Rd. Funeral services will be held at St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church, 3110 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30319, on Wednesday May 4th at 1 P.M. Mr. and Mrs. Akins have been active members at St. Martin's since 1977. The burial will follow at Arlington Memorial Park, 201 Mt. Vernon Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to St. Martin's Church Music Fund or the St. Martin's Emergency Assistance Fund.

Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on May 4, 2016
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