Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at Walthall Baptist Church in Walthall for Judge George Mitchell of Eupora, who died in the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 19. Burial will follow at the North Mississippi Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Kilmichael. Visitation will be held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Monday, April 25, at Oliver Funeral Home in Eupora.
If you ever knew George Mitchell, you would remember. His lion’s growl would scare all but those who knew him best; that said, he was a kitten at heart. George was a fighter and a servant, from the jungles of Vietnam to the courtrooms of Mississippi. He was as hard as he was tender and he was as funny as he was stern. A follower of Christ in word and deed, a patriot who sacrificed much for his country, and a loving father and grandfather, George will be greatly missed. Among his many hobbies – from classic cars to guns – his favorite was being cantankerous.
To those who knew him, it is a bit ironic that George Madison Mitchell Jr. was born on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1945, in Winona, the son of George M. Mitchell Sr. and Lenora Oliver Mitchell. After the untimely death of his mother, George went to live with his grandparents, Oscar and Minnie Oliver. They raised him well, as anyone who knew him could honestly testify.
After graduating from Mississippi State in 1968, George was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He served with distinction in Vietnam. He continued service in both the Mississippi Air National Guard and the United States Air Force Reserve. He retired with the rank of Colonel and the honorary designation as a Brigadier General, one of his proudest accomplishments.
Upon his return from Vietnam, George attended and graduated law school at the University of Mississippi. Thankfully, the “diploma privilege” was in place and he never had to sit for the bar examination. After his graduation in 1975, George clerked for fellow Euporan Justice Robert P. Sugg at the Mississippi Supreme Court and spent the next 40 years serving his clients and his community. From 1986 until 2004, George served as the Webster County Prosecuting Attorney. And for perhaps his favorite role, in 2016, Gov. Phil Bryant appointed George to serve as a Circuit Court Judge for the Fifth Circuit Court District. He held that post until his death. Almost every judge who served Mississippi in the past 50 years and every client he ever represented remember him well and can hear his voice as they read this obituary.
His parents, George Madison Mitchell Sr. and Lenora Oliver Mitchell; his maternal grandparents, Oscar E. Oliver and Minnie Oliver, and his paternal grandparents, William N. Mitchell and Charlotte Hall Mitchell, preceded George in death.
George would like most to be remembered as a loving father and grandfather, and he did well in that regard. Survivors include, his son, Matt Mitchell (Melissa) of Houston, Texas, and his daughter, Mandy Mitchell Davis (Richard) of Jackson, all of whom loved and honored him dearly. He is also survived by his three grandchildren, Lenora Natalia Mitchell, Abigail Lou Mitchell and Oliver Ward Davis; his sister; Jean (Tone) Garrett of Madison and his brother; Bobby Mitchell of Brownsville, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund or the Walthall Baptist Church Benevolent Fund.
To most honor his name, George would want you to stand tall in the face of evil and to protect those who can’t protect themselves. That is what he spent his life fighting for, and that is something that would please him without end.
Oliver Funeral Home in Eupora is in charge of arrangements.
