Children meant a lot to woman

Evelyn Blanchard remembers her mother, Ila Lee Yelton Bartles, as an excellent and loving person who was always looking to help her family.

"She had nine children of her own and she's helped all of us at one time or another with our own children," Blanchard said. "She took pride in it. She loved the children right on up to the time of her death, worrying about the children."

Bartles, 105, died while surrounded by family Saturday at Doctors Hospital. Funeral services were held Tuesday at Damascus Baptist Church in Leah before she was buried in the church cemetery.

Bartles, the wife of the late Tom Bartles Sr., outlived five of her children; Lewis Bartles, Mack Bartles, Bill Bartles, Willard Bartles and Elizabeth B. Fleming. She is survived by two sons, Jack Bartles and Harry Bartles, both of Evans; two daughters, Jean Blackard, of Memphis, Tenn., and Evelyn Blanchard, of Appling; 24 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; and eight great-great-grandchildren.

"She was one of the best mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers anyone could ever ask for," Blanchard said.

Bartles, who celebrated her 105th birthday in September, lived in Columbia County for 74 years, 69 of those years spent living in her home on Tom Bartles Road - named for her late husband - in the Phinizy community, north of Appling.

Memorials may be made to the Damascus Baptist Church Building Fund, 6375 Ridge Road, Appling, GA 30802. Friends may visit the residence of Evelyn Blanchard at 3839 Tom Bartles Road in Appling.

"I will always miss her," Blanchard said. "We had a good time. Mom and I were real close and I know she is in a better place than where I am at, so I have to rejoice."