Joan Lawson, 88, of Valdosta, died on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at Fellowship Home. She was born on June 26, 1937, in Griffin, Georgia, to the late John Blount Walton and Eleanor Goodrich Walton. Mrs. Lawson graduated from Augusta Medical College with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and served for many years as a pediatric registered nurse. She worked for her husband as a registered nurse in Valdosta in the 1960s. She and her husband, Dr. Quentin Lawson, had the first non-segregated waiting room in Valdosta during the civil rights era. Mrs. Lawson also spent many years teaching and instructing the next generation of nursing students in South Georgia through Southern Contracting. She thoroughly enjoyed her professional life and took great pride in seeing her students working in the South Georgia area. She was active in Tae Kwon Do obtaining her third degree blackbelt through the ATA and competing in tournaments well into her 70’s. Mrs. Lawson was also a devoted member of the First Baptist Church of Valdosta. She was a master gardener and helped maintain the flowers and gardens on the church grounds. Dr. and Mrs. Lawson also traveled to Africa and Venezuela with the church on mission trips. She named the orphanage built by the church on one of those mission trip to Venezuela; the House of Many Hands. Her skills as a master gardener were not limited to the church. Mrs. Lawson played an integral role of starting and maintaining the community garden at the alternative school in Valdosta. One of her lasting accomplishments was spearheading a movement to have air conditioning in the local public schools. Through her hard work and determination, air conditioning was installed for the students at Sallas Mahone school in the late 1970s. This lead to the installation of air conditioning throughout the Valdosta City School system and had a positive effect on thousands of students, teachers and faculty in Valdosta for years to come. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother and loved her family unconditionally.

Mrs. Lawson is survived by three sons and two daughters-in-law, J. Allen and Grace Lawson of Hahira; William Reid and Ashley Lawson of Punta Gorda, Florida; and Quentin Lawson, Jr., of Griffin, Georgia; her grandchildren and their spouses, John and Angela Lawson; Caleb and Amelia Lawson; Hannah and David Knowles; Jonathan Lawson, David Lawson, Jackson Lawson, Nathan Lawson, Madelyn Lawson, Drew Kent, and Brooklyn Kent; two great-grandchildren, Aiden Lawson and Tobias Lawson; her sister, Sarah Punt and her brother, John Walton. She was preceded by her husband, Dr. Quentin Lawson, and two brothers, Bill Walton and Clark Walton.

Services for Joan Lawson will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 24, 2026, at First Baptist Church of Valdosta with Rev. Mac Weaver officiating. The burial will follow in the Friendship Cemetery in Hahira. The family will receive friends on Friday evening from 5-7 p.m. at the Carson McLane Funeral Home. Condolences to the family may be conveyed online at www.mclanecares.com. Carson McLane.