Mrs. Georgia Leona Twitty Bowick, 86, former teacher at Calhoun College, passed away at Huntsville Hospital on July 28, 2024, after a brief illness.
Georgia was raised on a farm in North Augusta, S.C., where her family grew peaches, pears, cotton, and pecans during the Great Depression. A majorette for the North Augusta Yellow Jackets, Georgia was featured in several local car commercials before graduating from NAHS in 1955. And after some lengthy (and concerted) effort, she even taught her own mother how to drive.
By the time Georgia left Buckeye Cotton Oil Company in 1960 to raise a family, she was a shorthand expert, typing 90 words a minute on a manual Smith-Corona—skills that would serve her well for many years, and countless school projects, ahead. Many of these assignments would belong to her four children—but not all. With her youngest child in kindergarten (and without telling a soul), Georgia drove across T-town one day and enrolled herself as a freshman at the University of Alabama. In 1981, she graduated with bachelor’s degrees in both English and Political Science.
Fifty years after high school, however, Georgia discovered her true vocational calling. Earning a master’s degree from UAH in 2005, she entered the classroom as an ESL (English as a Second Language) professor at Calhoun College in Huntsville. Truly gifted among her peers, Georgia led ESL teaching seminars in multiple venues, and was also selected by state educators to co-create educational videos for fellow ESL instructors across Alabama.
As a teacher, Georgia loved her work, but especially adored her students. From 75 (or more) countries, with diverse religions and often conflicting cultures, these students found friendship, community, and the joy of learning in Georgia’s classroom. In addition, Georgia collaborated with the U.S. State Department, welcoming visitors from Ukraine, Russia, and Uzbekistan.
As much as she valued her newfound career, however, motherhood, was Georgia’s proudest, and most prized, role in life. She devoted herself to PTA meetings, band concerts, and endless carpools. Above all, Georgia was gracious, tender-hearted, and sentimental—and stubborn in ways that most mattered. She gave generous gifts and always sent thank you notes. She spoke her mind freely and gave ready voice to her convictions, which were generally strong ones. Finally, she was kind, loyal, and fiercely protective of those she loved. To countless neighbors, newcomers, and those less fortunate, Georgia liberally extended her heart, hands, and resources—a quality which enamored her to many worthy causes and endeared her to so many people. She will be loved and missed by all who were blessed to know her.
Georgia was preceded in death by her father, Russell Williamson Twitty; her mother, Mary Semple Whatley (Twitty) Tompkins; and her former husband, Dr. Louis Albert Bowick, Jr. Surviving her are four beloved children, Stephen Murphy Bowick, Ann Bowick Owen (Rick), John Charles “J.C.” Bowick (Leigh Anne), and Jean Marie Bowick; four cherished grandchildren, Andrew Helms Bowick, Lauren Ayn Jacobs Lusk (Jeremy), David Ian Jacobs, and David Clay Bowick; and two precious great-grandchildren, Anton Theodore “Teddy” Lusk and Amelia Gertrude “Trudy” Lusk.
Funeral services for Georgia will be held Friday, August 2, at Laughlin Service Funeral Home in Huntsville. Visitation will begin at 2 p.m., with ceremony following at 3 p.m.
The family welcomes flowers or plants, and any donations made to The Ark Animal Shelter in Georgia’s honor (https://arkinc.org).
