MOULTRIE, Ga. — As the first black principal and administrator for Colquitt County Board of Education, Evelyn Mitchell worked as the principal of Vereen Elementary School and then the director of gifted education of Vereen. Her school was the first school in Colquitt County to have a Pre-K program, which was started through her.

Mitchell died Aug. 22 at the age of 73. A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mother Easter Baptist Church.

“She was very generous and giving,” said daughter Senja Dawson. “She went above and beyond the calling of being a principal: if there was something going on with the students, she would go and help them. She was very involved.”

Mitchell’s love of teaching took her to Sarasota, Fla., where she taught science at MacIntosh Junior High School and Venice High School in Venice, Fla.  After earning her M.A. Degree in Administration Supervision from La Verne University in La Verne, Calif., she returned to her hometown of Moultrie to become the principal of Vereen.

Mitchell was involved in the community outside of her work. She was a member of numerous organizations such as the Women’s Federated Club, which helped to make improvements to the community through volunteer service, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, and Queen Esther Chapter #67 Order of the Eastern Star, and the Evelyn Kendrick Circle, which is through her church, Mother Easter Baptist Church.

“She was very involved in her church and the surrounding areas from Colquitt as well,” said Dawson. “She was big on public speaking and loved to sing, and she loved to cook and be around her family.”

Her coworkers also remember her as a bright and compassionate individual.

“I started working for her in 1989 but she had been working there years before as the principal of the elementary school,” said Trina Stevenson, a coworker of Mitchell’s.

“When you worked with her, not only were you close to her, but your children also became her children. She was diagnosed with lupus, but she stayed long after she was diagnosed and gave several people career opportunities,” said Stevenson. “She was very hands-on with her students. The children knew she cared about them; you could tell that they knew.”

Mitchell’s friends remember her as a strong-willed individual who had a generous and kind heart.

“I’ve known her since first grade,” said friend Evonne Smith. “We went to separate schools in 10th grade, but we stayed in touch from our teen years to now,” said Smith. “It was always a caring friendship. We always kept in touch with each other – Christmas cards, birthday cards – but more than that, even though we were not in the same area, no matter what was going on in our lives, we always managed to touch base with each other.”

Despite her illness, Mitchell stayed strong, said friend Barbara Jelks, and was reluctant to leave the school system.

“I can honestly say she was the one of the strongest women I’ve known. Even after she’d been diagnosed, she stayed strong. I’d always said that you can never count Evelyn Mitchell out,” said Jelks.

The Delta Sigma Theta, Omega Omega Service will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, at Luke Strong and Son Mortuary.