Dorothy LaNelle Daniel

August 29, 1940 - September 9, 2018

An ardent country music fan, Dorothy LaNelle Daniel has gone to attend a heavenly concert. She passed away surrounded by her family and caregivers on September 9, 2018. LaNelle was born on August 29, 1940, in Franklinton, Louisiana, Washington Parish. She graduated from Franklinton High School, then married and moved to Buras, Plaquemines Parish, where she gave birth to her first redheaded daughter, Angelique. Always a trailblazer, she bucked tradition and attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, graduating with a degree in English and a minor in French; she then taught at Bogalusa High School for several years before accepting a teaching position at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi. Doing her part to sustain global redheaded populations,her twin daughters, Samantha and Tamra, were born in Bogalusa. Because she had an insatiable love of learning, she then relocated to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where she obtained her master's degree in English and pursued a doctorate in English. Never one to back away from a challenge, she taught in Wyoming for five years before relocating to Rome, Georgia, to teach at Georgia Highlands College (then Floyd College), where she spent the remainder of her career. While at Georgia Highlands, she rose from faculty member to English Coordinator to Division Chair to Faculty Emerita. She was preceded in death by her parents, Claude and Elaine Daniel. She is survived by her daughter Angelique Thomas Ard and husband Winston, daughter Samantha Bishop and husband Jesse, and Tamra Bennett and former husband Sean; grandchildren Gabbi Bishop, Ben Bishop, and Madigan Bennett; cousins Gwen and Louie Cotton of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and numerous kin from Mississippi and Louisiana. She is also survived by thousands of students to whom shegave a love of literature and language. She loved her daughters as fiercely as her red hair might suggest, and she raised them each to be strong-willed, quick-witted women. LaNelle was a collector of wild and unruly things: from tales of dragons to stories of the bayou to her cats to her sons-in-law. Her boys loved her and she loved them.She had a calming influence on all around her, which is why she had so many friends, who she loved and cherished. From her colleagues at GHC to her friends scattered across the globe, she loved each and made them better people. In her later years, LaNelle adopted her caregivers at Pruitt Healthcare as her own. As was typical, she livened up the place with her classic country music, her books, her stories, and her sass. Her heart, like her interests, was wider and richer that the Delta she loved. Funeral services will be held at 4:30 P.M. Wednesday September 12, 2018 at Good Shepherd Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. George Nix, officiating. The family will receive friends from 3:00 P.M. until the hour of services on Tuesday, at Good Shepherd Funeral Home, 2750 Shorter Ave. Please visit our website, www.goodshepherdfh.net to post tributes. Honorary pallbearers will be the staff at Pruitt Healthcare of Rome. Flowers may be sent to Good Shepherd Funeral Home, 2750 Shorter Ave., Rome, Georgia, 30165. Parnick Jennings, Sr.’s Good Shepherd Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.