Nell Hayes Pickard

Nell Hayes Pickard, 89, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Thursday, December 18, 2025, at Maple Court Senior Care in Tifton, Georgia.

Memorial services will be held 3 PM, Sunday, December 28, 2025, at The Paulk Funeral Home Chapel in Fitzgerald, Georgia, with the Rev. Gary Mimbs and the Rev. Ike Branch officiating. Interment will be private.

Mrs. Pickard was born October 18, 1936, in Berrien County, Georgia, to the late J.C. & Myrtle Pauline Crumbley Hayes. She attended school in Alapaha and later Enigma after the building was destroyed by a tornado. She was a graduate of Berrien County High School. She worked as a paraprofessional for the Ben Hill County School System and in the office at Ben Hill Middle School. Mrs. Pickard was also an operator for General Telephone and Southern Bell. She was a resident of Fitzgerald from 1968 - 2023. She finished out her life making a difference at Maple Court Senior Care Assisted Living Facility in Tifton, Georgia. She was a member of the Church of the Nazarene in Fitzgerald.

She is survived by her children and their spouses: Kitty Pickard Bishop of Leesburg, Lee & Tina Pickard of Fort Valley, and Kristy & Ben Whidby of Greensboro; grandchildren: Breckyn Bishop Guzman & Lalo, Ashtyn Bishop Bobbey & Mike, Clark Bishop & Jillian, Brianna Johnson Rosen & Mike, Walker Johnson IV & McCall, and Mary Pickard & Charlie Hill; great-grandchildren: Victor Guzman, Ximena Guzman, Owen Bobbey, Eli Bobbey, Ford Bishop, and Whitt Bishop; and special friend and caregiver, Belinda Spearing. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Ernest L. Pickard, Sr.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to The Church of the Nazarene, P. O Box 1007, Fitzgerald, Georgia, 31750.

Paulk Funeral Home, Fitzgerald, is in charge of arrangements.