Geri “Yiye” Mallard passed away at home, surrounded in her last days by those who loved her and an amazing team of caretakers. She lived a thousand lives, as a Savannah High grad, working at Great Dane trailer and Red Gate Farms, to being one of the first Savannahians to run in the Spanky’s marathon (from Southside Spanky’s to River Street Spanky’s), to spending her final years cruising every thrift store in town. 

Yiayia is Greek for grandmother, which none of her grandkids with heavy southern accents could pronounce - thus, she became “Yiye.” She loved her garden, her koi pond which she dug and built herself in her 70’s, and defied all expectations of what surviving cancer looked like, often lovingly referred to as “the battle axe” which spoke to her resilience and sheer stubbornness to live a good life. 

She is survived by her daughter Ghia Papy, her granddaughters Callen Herring and Coco Guthrie-Papy, their partners James Herring and E-S Guthrie, her grandson AJ Morton and his wife Courtney “Tot” Morton, her great-grandchildren JD, Holst, Emmie and Ansley, as well as her sister Marchia, her daughter in law Vicki, cousins Jenny, Shelley, Benji, Amy, and Denslay (who always made sure her fish were fed) - plus, many more loving friends including LaJuana, the crew at Robin Road (Pat, BJ, Marcia, Kathy and more). The family takes comfort that she joins her son Jay Mahany in the ever after. 

There will be a private celebration of life and home going for friends and family.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. George’s Episcopal Church to support the service work and community she cared deeply about.

The family wishes to extend their profound thanks to Hope Boggs, Cherrin Simmons, and Pamela Blake, for their guidance and support in the caretaking of her final days.

In the words of Yiye, the family asks that “we don’t start all that crying” and instead, lift her up in celebration for the full life she lived, and may we all be as lucky.