Rebecca Lee Magnus Tiller

Our beloved Mother, Rebecca Lee Magnus Tiller (Becky)  passed into the arms of Jesus and gained her Heavenly Home on December 30, 2021, after a battle with cancer.  She is survived by her son, William Edward Tiller, III (Ted) and daughter, Tara Lee Tiller.  She is also survived by brothers, Michael Vester Magnus and James Douglas Magnus, and several nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews - all from Gainesville, Georgia.  She is also preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Judy Diane Magnus Henson - who were all of Gainesville.  
Becky was born in Gainesville Georgia July 29, 1943 to Vester Lee Magnus and Sarah Helen Spain Magnus.  She graduated South Hall High School in 1961, and attended Brenau University and Hall School of Nursing,  graduating as a RN and the second graduating class of Hall School of Nursing in Gainesville in 1964.  She went on to work at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville following college, and other hospitals including Vanderbilt University in Tennessee before meeting our Father and relocating to Alabama in 1967.  
Our Mother married our Father, William Edward Tiller, Jr in 1967 and relocated to Decatur, Alabama, where she would live primarily the remainder of her life.  She went to work first at Baugh Wiley Smith Hospital in 1968 where she soon gained the respect and admiration of the doctors and staff who took her into their lives as family.   She enjoyed several years there until the opening of Charter Retreat Hospital in 1974, where she was one of the first employees to serve in a RN nursing role, and she would go on to spend 15 wonderful years there, blessed by all doctors and staff as the best place she would ever work.  She went on from there to work in other hospitals, Crestwood in Huntsville, and Parkway Medical Center in Decatur - working until 2001 when health issues required her to step down and take early retirement.  She enjoyed her years in nursing, and credits her outstanding education and training at the time to prepare her for a successful management career in nursing and always delivering the most thorough and compassionate patient care.  She also was nominated numerous times as Nurse of the Year and gained that honor in Decatur and Morgan County. 
Volunteerism began a major focus in her life from the early 1980's after joining River City Pilot Club in Decatur in 1984, and being a member and club president, until organizing a new club, Morgan County Pilot Club in 1990.  She loved giving back to her community and seeing the results of smiles and love received from doing for others, particularly the senior citizen population, as well as those with special needs.   In addition to the Pilot Club's focus on community service, she became actively involved in other organizations, joining the board for United Cerebral Palsy of Huntsville and Tennessee Valley in 1987, and serving for 15 years, which was a great passion seeing the building of a new center and serving the needs of children with CP over the area.  She also hosted a satellite site for the UCP telethon in Decatur, and appeared each year on TV representing the Morgan County area.  She also served on boards for other organizations such as ARC and always involved in other civic/service community affairs.  Giving back to others was her passion throughout her life.   
Becky was a charter member of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Gainesville, Georgia before moving to Alabama.  She moved her letter to Central Baptist Church in 1968 and remained a member until her death.  
In 1999, our parents purchased a property in Gulf Shores Alabama, and it would be over the next 21 years, that she would meet and develop close relationships with new found friends in that area - as well as dividing her time back and forth to Decatur.  She loved to attend First Baptist Church in Gulf Shores, and memories of her time there are so precious and memorable.  She found a loving church family who saw in her the great passion of friendship that she had for people, and she left behind a legacy with those who comment so frequently on the elegant southern lady she was.  She was blessed for that time and experience that God gave her - and her memory will live on forever.  
Visitation and viewing will be at the First Baptist Church of Gulf Shores from 11am - 1pm on Thursday,  January 6, 2021, followed by funeral service at 1pm.  Our beloved Mother will then travel home to Gainesville ,Georgia on Friday, and then be at Little and Davenport Funeral Home in Gainesville for a private family ceremony Saturday with burial to follow at Memorial Park Cemetery in Gainesville, as she will be laid to rest next to her parents.  
Those wishing to send online condolences to the family may do so at littledavenport.com
Little & Davenport Funeral Home & Crematory, 355 Dawsonville Highway, SW, Gainesville, Georgia 30501 is in charge of local arrangements.