TIFTON — Sibyl Frances Branch, 69, of Tifton died Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 at Tift Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Memorial Chapel of Tifton’s First Baptist Church with Dr. Wayne Roe and Dr. W. Ches Smith III officiating. Burial will follow at Oakridge Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 tonight at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.

Bill Reinhardt, Robert Branch, Greg Branch, Pete Garvey, Mike Bland, Austin Jones and Ross Jones will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be the J.O.Y. Sunday School Class of Tifton’s First Baptist Church, Perry McCranie, Charles Massey, Jimmy Walker, Joe Turner, Steve Rigdon, Bob Reinhardt and Judge Gary McCorvey.

Mrs. Branch was born Jan. 29, 1940 in Tifton and was the daughter of Warren Frank Branch and Sibyl Turner Blitch Branch, both deceased. She was educated in the Tifton public schools and graduated from Tift County High School in 1958, where she served as head majorette. She attended Gulfport Finishing School in Gulfport, Miss., and then transferred to Wesleyan College, where she graduted in 1960 magna cum laude. She attended George Washington University Law School and, during that time, she rode on the State of Georgia float in the John F. Kennedy Inauguration Parade. She graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.

Mrs. Branch taught English in the Humanities Division at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and, later, received her RN degree from ABAC and worked as a registered nurse at Tift General Hospital. She used her law degree as a State of Georgia Probation Officer.

Mrs. Branch was a member of Tifton’s First Baptist Church, sang in the Adult Choir and was a member of the J.O.Y. Sunday School Class.

Mrs. Branch is survived by her son, George Warren Frank Branch of Tifton; her daughter, Elizabeth Frances Branch-Jones of Tifton; and grandsons, Warren Austin Branch-Jones and David Ross Branch-Jones, both of Tifton. She loved her dog, Spencer, and all animals in general. Her faith, her church and her family were her heart.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Forward in Faith Building Fund at Tifton’s First Baptist Church. You may express online condolences to the family at www.bowen-donaldson.com. Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals is in charge of arrangements.