On Tuesday, June 28, 2022, Gail Eubanks Lanier passed away peacefully at the age of 100, having been born on Feb. 22, 1922, to Hezekiah and Victoria Robbins at home on the farm in Halcyondale, Ga., In 1938, her parents moved to Ocala, Fla. and she stayed behind with relatives to finish high school. She graduated from Screven County High School in Sylvania, Ga., in 1939 and moved to Ocala, where she graduated from Roosevelt Business School. Soon after, she met Floyd Eubanks, and they were wed on Dec. 14, 1941. In 1950, they moved to Live Oak for him to be the Suwannee County Agricultural Extension Agent. They joined First Baptist Church when they moved to Live Oak and the family is still active in the church. She was a loving, Christian woman of great faith and read and studied her Bible and had prayer at the start of every day. Even after she was unable to read in the last few days of her life, she asked her daughter to read the Bible to her. Gail also had a delightful sense of humor.
Gail was a homemaker, a fantastic cook and seamstress, an avid flower gardener, loved to read, and was ready to go fishing at any time. She was also a true southern lady and loved spending time with and taking care of her family. She made clothes for herself, her daughters and her mother. Later, she crocheted afghans for every family member and made and stored away some for future grandchildren. Gail was a 4-H leader and always enjoyed being with the 4-H’ers at meetings and camps. In 1962, Gail went to work outside the home at Suwannee High School as the registrar. Later, when Suwannee Hamilton Vocational Technical School was opened, she was on the ground floor, helping get the school started and was the bookkeeper until she retired.
Gail reached a significant milestone this year when she turned 100 on Feb. 22. Her children, nieces, nephews and friends gathered together each year for a celebration of her birthday. The 100th celebration was delayed this year due to illness, but she was surprised and honored by the pastor of First Baptist Church on Mother’s Day when he announced to the church that Gail had turned 100 in February. She was blessed to be able to attend church that day and see two of her great-grandchildren be baptized as well.
Gail is survived by her four children: Janice (and Kenneth) Williams, of Crawfordville, Fla.; Kiah (and Lynn) Eubanks, of O’Brien; Rick (and Pam) Eubanks, of Ocala, Fla.; and Robin Eubanks Mast, of Elyria, Oh.; five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild, with two more great-great-grandchildren on the way. Survivors also include beloved nieces, nephews and cousins, too numerous to list. She was preceded in death by her children’s father, Floyd Eubanks, her second husband, O. C. “Slim” Lanier, her sister, Mildred Van Popering and her brothers, Valda Robbins and Carey Robbins.
The service was held at First Baptist Church of Live Oak on Thursday, June 30, with a private burial after the service at Live Oak Cemetery. Donations may be made in her memory to First Baptist Church of Live Oak or Haven Hospice of Lake City, Fla. A Facebook Live feed of the service can be found at https://www.facebook.com/DanielsFHC.
