Patricia Ann Jewell Prince, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, died Sunday, May 4 at home after a valiant battle against cancer, surrounded by her family. She was under hospice care for the last week of her life.
The daughter of poultry pioneer Jesse Jewell and Anna Lou Jewell, Mrs. Prince was born January 11, 1930 in Gainesville. She attended Gainesville High School and Brenau College and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1951 with a B.A. degree in Drama.
While attending the University of North Carolina, she and her future husband, Jack Alexander Prince of Kings Mountain, NC, met while trying out for a student musical production. They were personally introduced by Oscar Hammerstein's son, Jim, a classmate of Mrs. Prince. In 1951, she and Jack married and later made their home in Gainesville.
In her early years of marriage, Mrs. Prince was active in a number of community organizations including the Junior League. However, for the past 50 years her life has been dedicated to Christian ministry and service. She has been the state president of Women's Aglow and was a leader in Faith at Work, Faith Alive, Lay Witness Missions, and Camps Farthest Out. Beginning in the mid-1960s she was for many years director of the Bethel Choir, a gospel choir that traveled and performed throughout the Southeast. An outreach ministry of Bethel Church of the Nazarene, the choir was comprised of young people from the south side of Gainesville, most especially from the Atlanta Street area. Mrs. Prince was quiet and unassuming in her Christian ministry, never calling attention to herself. She had a true heart for God and for the ministry to which He called her. Her Christian influence in the lives of the young people of the Bethel Choir literally changed lives and continues to have a ripple effect in the community today.
For many years she was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, Gainesville. After purchasing a cabin in White County, she and her husband became founding members of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Sautee, GA where she served as an adult Sunday school teacher and as Senior Warden of the congregation during the construction of the new church building.
Mrs. Prince was preceded in death by her parents, Jesse and Anna Lou Jewell, and by her sister, Barbara Jewell Asmussen. She is survived by her loving husband, Jack Prince, daughter Debby Prince Kroll and husband Bob, daughter Becky Burnette, son Jesse Prince and wife Dorothy, and sister Jay W. MacIntosh and husband Steve Orlandella. She also is survived by five grandchildren: Jess Prince and wife Kerri, Bailey Prince Tomes and husband Justin, William (Trey) Burnette III and wife Jessica, Katie Kroll Holloway and husband Joshua, and Blair Burnette and four great grandchildren: Ellie and Alex Prince, Alice Tomes, and Benjamin Holloway.
Visitation will be Wednesday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Little and Davenport Funeral Home, Gainesville. Funeral services will be Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Duncan Bridge Road (Highway 384) in Sautee, GA. Interment will be at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday at Alta Vista Cemetery in Gainesville.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Veterans and Community Outreach Foundation P.O. Box 3115 Gainesville, GA 30501
Those wishing to send online condolences may do so at littledavenport.com
Little & Davenport Funeral Home, 355 Dawsonville Highway, SW, Gainesville, Ga. 30501 is in charge of arrangements.
