SAVANNAH - Nita Leonard Carson died Thursday, February 5, 2009, under the care of Hospice Savannah and the wonderful staff at Oceanside Nursing Home.
She was born in Savannah, Georgia, on April 11, 1916, the daughter of the late Stephen Sierra Leonard of Pensacola, Florida, and Marie Norton Leonard of Savannah, Georgia.
She was educated in parochial schools throughout the Southeast including St. Vincent's Academy and later matriculated to Armstrong College.
She began her successful real estate career under the helpful guidance of the late Albert and Lucille Lufburrow of Savannah and continued as a real estate broker in Oregon and Florida.
In 1934 she married the late Gerald Pascal Carson and was a devoted wife for fifty-six years. They reared their son, Gerald Pascal Carson, Jr., and daughter, Patricia Carson Gignilliat in Savannah and later moved to her ancestral home of Pensacola, Florida where she was awarded membership in Pioneer Families of Florida.
She had an avid interest in history and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Daughters of the Confederacy. She chose the Oceanside Nursing Home to be near Officer's Row of Fort Screven as her father had built the beautiful homes there and where she had enjoyed a summer home for many years.
In addition to her parents, Mrs. Carson was preceded in death by her brothers Francis Leonard formerly of Boston, Massachusetts and Stephen Sierra Leonard, Jr. formerly of Savannah, Georgia.
In addition to her children, she is survived by her son-in-law, Heyward Gignilliat of Savannah, her daughter-in-law, Beth Carson of Melbourne, Florida, her grandson Gerald Patrick Carson and wife Laura, of Palm Bay, Florida, granddaughter Pallas Hupe Cotter and husband Steve of Davis, California, grandson Kurt Howard Hupe of Portland, Oregon, and Shannon Carson Hauser and husband Michael of Vero Beach, Flordia, and seven great-grandchildren, Gregory, Jena Beth, Matthew Carson and Cade and Carson Cotter and Bryce and Natalie Hauser. Also, extended family members, Peggy Carswell of Savannah, the Henry Clay family of Columbia. S.C. and the Scott Richardson family of Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Her legacy is that she will always live on in our hearts.
Graveside funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, February, 14, 2009 in Catholic Cemetery with The Reverend Thomas Peyton officiating.
Remembrances may be made to the Philharmonic Chorus of Savannah, P.O. Box 11323 Savannah, GA 31412, Hospice Savannah, Inc., P.O. Box 13190, Savannah, GA 31416, Children's Choir of Savannah, P.O. Box 23355 Savannah, GA 31403 and the Boy Scouts Coastal Empire Council, P.O. Box 60007, Savannah, GA 31420.
Please sign our on-line guest book at www.foxandweeks.com.
Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel