Mary Nell Upchurch

Mary Nell Upchurch, 86, of Dalton, Georgia, passed away on April 11, 2023. She was born on August 12, 1936, in Baxley, Ga, the daughter of Solomon and Estell Nichols.

She graduated from Georgia Southern University, and taught school for 38 years, most of that time spent at Dublin Jr High School, where she taught English. While her exploits were many, she was known mainly for diagramming sentences on an overhead projector, Readers’ Digest books in her classroom, not believing in homework, and playing a wicked hand of Bridge.

She would teach Summer School for extra money and then pack the family up in the station wagon and head south, hitting every roadside alligator farm and tourist attraction along the way, only returning when the money ran out.

After retiring and getting her kids off the payroll, she upgraded to such locations as Hawaii, Alaska, and Costa Rica. Sadly, her final adventure to cruise the Panama Canal was never realized. But that’s about the only one she missed.

She loved her family deeply and is survived by her son, Chuck (Kathy) Upchurch and daughter, Dawn (Michael) Olmstead, as well as her six (6) grandchildren:  Michael Jr, Graham, Nicholas, Katie Grace, Noah, and Rachel.

A small graveside service will be held for immediate family on Saturday, April 15. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (GA Chapter, 922 E. Morris St. Dalton, Ga. 30721).