Dr. Richard Donald “Don” Jolly passed away on April 23, 2023 at West Georgia Hospice in LaGrange, Ga. He was born in Meridian, Ms. on July 24, 1930 and grew up on a dairy/cattle farm near Lizelia, Ms. He was the youngest of 4 children of the late Richard Irvin Jolly and Myrtie Lee Harper. As typical of life on a farm, Don got up before dawn and he and his siblings would do their farm chores including milking the cows and then deliver milk to all the houses on their route before going to Ponta Hills School. In addition to being farmers, his parents were educators and Don was an avid learner. The dairy barn had electricity before their house did so he often took his books and studied using the lights in the barn. Not challenged by the curriculum his senior year of high school he talked with the principal, his dad, and left high school and enrolled at Meridian Community College. Don earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Southern Mississippi, a master’s degree from the University of Illinois and a doctoral degree in mathematics education from Auburn University. He also attended Miss State, Miss. College, Florida State, Tulane, and Kansas Teacher’s College. He taught high school math at Steelville, Mo. and the Colorado Academy in Denver before LaGrange College President Dr. Weights G. Henry convinced him to come to LaGrange College in 1961 instead of taking a job in El Segundo, Ca. Don was a professor of mathematics and head of the mathematics department at LaGrange College for 34 years until 1995 and he served nine years as chair of the Division of Science and Mathematics. He continued to teach math part-time at the college until 2009. Don truly loved teaching math and only retired when his health did not allow him to continue. Unlike many mathematics professors who prefer upper-level students, Dr. Jolly wanted the unpolished ones, like the freshmen who had bad math experiences in high-school and swore off it for good. He didn’t mind if his students didn’t love math, because they would love it once they left his classroom. No mathematics textbook could quite capture what he wanted to teach his students, so he meticulously made his own, creating black binders for each and every one of them during his 34 years as a professor at LaGrange College. Students who had his binders carried the tell-tale mark of a professor who didn’t see his students as nameless faces he was required to teach. He saw each of them as individuals, ones who had joys and struggles outside the classroom. He cared about them all, and he inspired them by being a Christian gentleman and a gentle man. The LaGrange College yearbook, the Quadrangle, was dedicated to Dr. Jolly in 1967-68 and 1987-88. In 1974, he was awarded a National Teaching Fellow to study computer science at the University of Illinois, and was named to a two-year appointment as Professor of the Flora Glenn Candler Chair at the college in 1989. He received the Vulcan Materials Co.’s teaching excellence award in 1993. The lecture room in Callaway Science Building was named the Richard Donald Jolly lecture room in 2000. For his individualized teaching, for his example of true servant leadership and his unabashed love for this institution, Dr. Jolly was made an Honorary Alumnus of LaGrange College in 2013.

Don’s faith was very important to him and he would do anything he could to help someone in need. After retiring from the college he served as Pastor to several Methodist Churches in Troup and Heard counties until he was 90. Don was a devoted husband and father. He and his wife Roberta Jean “Bobbie” Anderson were married for 67 years until her death in 2020. Together they were great parents and grandparents, playing a significant role in helping raise all of their grandkids who brought them much joy. He was an avid photographer and traveler and although not a big fan of watching sports, he participated in 4H rodeo events in his youth and enjoyed playing tennis and volleyball. He loved humor and enjoyed watching Bob Newhart, Bob Hope, Dick Van Dyke and telling corny dad jokes.

Too young to enlist during WWII with his brothers, Don joined the Air Force when he turned 17. He taught airborne electronics at the Biloxi (Miss.) Air Force Base; served in the Air Force during the Korean Conflict and commanded a reserve combat radar intercept unit out of Dobbins AFB. He retired at the rank of Major in 1975.

Preceding him in death in addition to his parents are his siblings, Bonnie Jean McWilliams, Murray Odell Jolly and Charles Leon Jolly. He is survived by his daughter Debbie (Tom) Mills and sons Ricky and Kevin, all of LaGrange, He is also survived by his grandchildren Whitney (Luke) Hunter, Hilary (Chris) Gilbert, Harrison (Stephanie) Mills, Taylor Jolly, Andi Jolly and Alyssa Jolly; great-grandchildren Kinsley Hunter, Laurel Hunter, Sophie Mills, Owen Gilbert and Claire Gilbert and nieces and nephews. Dr. Greg McClanahan, who worked with Don at LaGrange College, was a valued friend and colleague who visited with Don frequently until his passing.

Due to a National Pandemic that occurred at this time, Don preferred that a joint service take place when he passed. In remembrance of Don and Bobbie, a funeral service will be held at the LaGrange First United Methodist Church on Saturday. July 8, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary, followed by family receiving friends directly after in the fellowship hall. Please join the family in honoring these two wonderful people.

For those wishing to honor him, donations may be made in memory Don Jolly to :
LaGrange College Scholarship Fund
601 Broad Street
LaGrange, GA 30240

United Methodist Children’s Home