Nancy Carole Howell Groover, 86, of Ellabell, went peacefully to be with her Lord Thursday, May 7, 2026. The Lord was merciful and took her home, while she was sleeping.
She was born February 23, 1940 in Pierce County, the second oldest of 11 children born to the late Harvey and Lottie Howell. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Thurmond S. Groover Sr., a sister, Irma Groover, a brother, Danny Howell, a son-in-law, Alan Shuman and eight brothers-in-law, Rothell Groover, Terry Best, Burt Peacock, Eugene Crawford, John White, Allen Sapp, Wayne Hutchinson and Joe Overstreet.
At 18 years of age, after her High School graduation in 1958, she began working at The Blackshear Times. She loved working there and learned a lot about newspaper production. She would marry her high school sweetheart, Thurmond Nov. 21 of that year. They had a great marriage and she was a faithful and devoted wife for 57 years until God called him home October 19, 2015. She was a very loving mother and grandmother to her two children, nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Her married life began in Blackshear living on a dairy owned by “Skinny Byrd” where Thurmond was employed. They then moved to Savannah for Thurmond to pursue a career as a heavy-machine operator. Carole continued office management for both local print shops and newspapers during her career while trying to balance the responsibilities of motherhood. In 1976, the family of four moved to Bryan County and bought a 106 acre farm. Life was tough for the family trying to balance work for the parents and school for the children while farming “full-time”. Carole was a farm girl at heart and loved farm life. You could find her most mornings out feeding the animals and milking the cow before putting on her office attire and heading to work at the Bryan County Times.
Later in life, she was blessed to get a job as Probate Clerk where she excelled due to her great memory, love for people and attention to detail. She loved the “court house life” and enjoyed the people she worked with, and around each day. As recently as a year or two ago, she could still remember the inner workings and legal aspect of the probate court system and helped others make informed decisions. Her last 10 years of public work was as the Probate Clerk for Bryan County before her retirement.
She enjoyed retirement which gave her more time for travel and her “recliner” for “tablet” time. She was naturally very tech savvy and would never shy away from technology and looking up public records or other pertinent information online. Her son remembers her joining LinkedIn online and a motorcycle forum so she could follow his professional career and hobby!
She was a wealth of knowledge and loved to help others. Her memory was exceptional and everyone in her family considered her the “family historian”. She could remember the slightest details and timing on encounters that happened decades ago. She would often mention or remind someone of an event in their life that they no longer remembered, but she had it stored away “just in case”.
She loved the Oak Ridge Boys and followed them on YouTube and Facebook. Sammy and Nancy thought they were related to them for the longest time because of the details Carole knew about their lives. She loved to travel and see them in concert and in September 2025, she went to see them in Myrtle Beach, SC for the last time. She also loved to follow young families out West on YouTube that were homesteading. It brought up memories from her earlier days on the family farm that were hard, but so rich in memories and family time. With the first 8 children born to her parents being girls, they had to learn to do all the chores around the farm including driving tractors, tending row crops and handling the animals. Later when the three brothers came long, everyone was thankful for the extra hands to help out.
Carole was a good friend and loved people. She was easy to talk to and fun to be around. Her smile was infectious, and she loved to laugh. She loved her siblings and often traveled with several of them to Dollywood, Missouri, Arkansas and other places for sightseeing and family visits. She also enjoyed ocean cruises with her sisters and always had funny stories from their time together. Her daughter Nancy has a favorite story about karaoke and the “Howell Sisters” that she would love to share.
Survivors include her two children, Sammy Groover (Sheri), Pembroke and Nancy Shuman, Pembroke; grandchildren, Sam Groover, Ashley Henderson (Matthew), Laura (Jeremiah), Anna, Katelyn (Chris), Daniel, Joshua, Taylor (Donovein) and James; 11 great-grandchildren, Luke, Eden, Nathan, Nora, Phoebe, Riley, Avery, Joseph, Jackson, Camden and Evelynn; her siblings, Leola Crawford (Donald), Savannah, Linda Sapp, Blackshear, Margie Hutchinson, Blackshear, Charlene Best, Savannah, Verdia White, Blackshear, Sandra Peacock, Alma, Harvey Howell (Dorothea), Centerview, Missouri and Tommy Howell, Blackshear; sisters-in-law, Norene Bennett (Jerry), Valdosta, and Judy Howell, Blackshear and several nieces, nephews and other relatives.
Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, at Flanders Powell Funeral Home in Pembroke.
Funeral services will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, from the chapel of Flanders Powell Funeral Home.
Visitation will also be held from 11 a.m-noon Wednesday, May 13, at Pearson-Dial Funeral Home in Blackshear.
Interment will follow in Ramah Cemetery in Pierce County.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Ramah Cemetery Fund, C/O Susan Bennett 3434 W. Horseshoe Road, Blackshear, GA 31516.
Notes of sympathy to the family can be left at www.flanderspowellfuneralhome.com.
Flanders Powell Funeral Home of Pembroke is in charge of arrangements. Pearson-Dial Funeral Home of Blackshear is in charge of local arrangements.
