Carol graduated from The Medical Center School of Nursing in 1963, beginning a life shaped by steady purpose and care for others. Her devotion to nursing was not simply a profession, but a calling she carried with pride and sincerity.
From 1963 to 1976, Carol worked as an operating room nurse, a role that reflected both her skill and her commitment to serving others at their most vulnerable moments. In 1969, she also embraced the work of motherhood—remaining, as her family lovingly expressed it, a wonderful full-time mom from 1969 to Eternity.
Carol was preceded in death by the love of her life, Daniel W. Atkins, and by her parents, Mildred Huff and Bill Bonner.
Carol is survived by her daughter, Lea Carol Atkins; her brother, Richard Bonner; and her nieces, Beverly Head and Melissa Koslow.
Those closest to Carol knew the depth of her loyalty and the quiet strength of her love. She was an adoring wife and mother who loved her husband and daughter with her entire soul. She was also the best friend one could hope for—someone who held friends close and treated them like family. In that same spirit, she dearly loved her daughter’s friends, Cathryn Loyal, Wendy Rice, and Heather Nix, cherishing them as if they were her own.
A Celebration of Life Funeral Service will be held at 2:00 pm on October 3, 2026, at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary - Columbus, Fisher Chapel, 4071 Macon Rd, Columbus, Georgia 31907.
Visitation following Services will take place on October 3, 2026, at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary - Columbus, Fisher Chapel, 4071 Macon Rd, Columbus, Georgia 31907.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Alzheimer's Association in Carol's name.
