Ruth Layton (Sowell) Darley

Vidalia,

Mrs. Ruth Sowell Layton Darley, age 87, of Vidalia, died Wednesday, July 11, 2018, in the Community Hospice House in Vidalia, after an extended illness.  She was born and raised in Toombs County, Georgia and later married and moved to Bainbridge, Georgia, until 1976, during which time she was the Business Manager of Memorial Hospital in Bainbridge.  She attended Perry Business School where she earned a degree in Accounting.  After the death of her husband, Garland Layton, she married Jerry Cox, and they moved to Pensacola, FL, where she was employed by the Council on Aging.  In 1978, she returned home to Vidalia where she was employed by Oxford Industries in the Accounting Department for fifteen years, until retirement in 1994.  She was a member of the Pilot Club for many years, and the American Business Women's Association in Bainbridge.  She was a member of Smith Street Baptist Church in Vidalia and the T.E.L. Sunday School Class.  She was preceded in death by Garland Layton, husband of twenty-four years and father of her three children; Jerry Cox, husband of seventeen years; Roy Darley, husband of 18 years; parents, Vernon and Ada Sowell; one son, Garland Benjamin Layton; two sisters, Cuba Lee Davis, and Eunice Mosley; five brothers:  Jimmy Sowell, Carlos Sowell, Howard Sowell, Ira Sowell, and Pierce Sowell.

Mrs. Darley is survived by two daughters:  June Dickerson of Vidalia, and Bonnie Collier and husband Jerry B. Collier of Manchester; one son, John Cox of Vidalia; one brother, Carl Sowell and wife Mae of Albany; seven grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

The funeral service will be held Friday, July 13th at 11:00 a.m. in the chapel of Ronald V. Hall Funeral Home with Pastor Chester Proctor officiating.  Burial will follow at 5:00 p.m. in Rose lawn Memorial Gardens in Bainbridge with Reverend Clyde Billingsley officiating.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday morning from 9:30 until just prior to the service.

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