Stan Reaves

Stan Reaves, 79, of Young Harris, died on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Hahira after a brief illness. Born in Valdosta to the late Silas Reaves and Louelle Coppage Reaves Mickler, he had lived in Young Harris for the past 11 years. Growing up in Valdosta, Stan attended Valdosta City Schools and graduated from Valdosta High School in 1963. He played football for the Wildcats and was the Captain of the 1962 Championship Team. After high school, Stan attended the University of Georgia and there he played for the Bulldogs. While in college, he met and started dating the former Sandy Yielding, and they were married on December 19, 1964, at Avalon Methodist Church in Albany. They would have been married for 60 years, this December. After college, Stan began working for the Boys & Girls Club of America which took him to Virginia for several years and then north Florida before returning to Valdosta. Here he became the Director of the Valdosta Boys & Girls Club and helped grow and develop kids here for over a decade before he took a job as a development officer for the Georgia Sheriffs Youth Homes. Stan drove all over the state for years raising funds to care for kids at Georgia Sheriffs Youth Homes until his retirement in 2015. Over the years, Stan has been very involved in the community, working with Nick Hyder at FCA meetings in Valdosta, and was also a member of the Lions Club and the Rotary Club. He was a member of McConnell Memorial Baptist Church and was a member of Hahira Community Church (formerly Hahira United Methodist Church) before they moved to north Georgia. 

Survivors include his wife, Sandy Reaves of Young Harris; his daughter, Kim Norris, both of Young Harris; two sons and a daughter in law, Stan Reaves of Atlanta, and Matt & Amy Reaves of Hahira; and sisters, Barbara J. Smith of Lake Park, and Linda Reaves Harris. Also surviving are six grandchildren, Brad Reaves, Jacob Norris, Mary Beth Norris, Stan (& Amber) Reaves, III, Austin (& Leslie) Reaves, Silas Reaves, and Lily Reaves; great grandchildren, Justin Hudson, Preston Reaves, Chloe Reaves, Hunter Rigdon, Amelia Early, Stan Reaves, IV, Ady Reaves, Samson Reaves, Ryder Reaves, Ellie Reaves, Savannah Reaves and Oak Reaves and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

The funeral for Mr. Reaves will be held at 11 am on Friday, March 29, 2024, in the chapel of Carson McLane Funeral Home. Mr. Stan Reaves, Jr. will officiate. Burial will follow at McLane Riverview Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Thursday evening from 6 until 8 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Georgia Sheriffs Youth Homes, at www.georgiasheriffsyouth.org Condolences may be conveyed to the family on the obituary page of www.mclanecares.com Carson McLane Funeral Home