Shirley Malcom Devaughn

Shirley Malcom DeVaughn passed away peacefully on September 21, 2025, in Athens, Georgia, where she had resided for the previous 10 years. She was born in Orlando, Florida on November 7, 1933, to Willie Swep Malcom and Sara Sue Isbell Malcom. Shirley was followed by her younger brother (Tommy) who later developed a successful property management business and remained in the Orlando area until his death. The Malcoms lived and Shirley grew up in a Florida-style cottage in the (now historic) Colonialtown neighborhood of Orlando.

Shirley attended Hillcrest Elementary School, Memorial Junior High, and Orlando High School where she could walk several blocks from home to school. In 1951, Shirley graduated from Orlando High School where she was both a cheerleader and one of three honor graduates (and the only female honor graduate) in her Senior Class. While growing up, the local teenagers went to the beaches at Titusville, Cocoa, and New Smyrna. These were mostly dunes and largely undeveloped at this time. Following graduation from high school, Shirley attended Orlando Junior College. Following receipt of her two-year degree she was “recruited” by two friends to attend Rollins College which is located in nearby Winter Park, Florida. While at Rollins, Shirley was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, a cheerleader (again), and graduated with honors and as member of Phi Beta Kappa academic society.

After graduating from Rollins, Shirley taught school in Orlando for a couple of years before the opportunity arose to move to Atlanta, Georgia, where she taught school at Rock Springs Elementary and E. Rivers Elementary. She also met and fell in love with Joe DeVaughn whom she married on January 26, 1962.

Shirley and Joe later moved to Joe’s hometown (Montezuma, Georgia) where Joe had been invited to join the family’s farming operation. This included raising and packaging Georgia’s famous peaches (and other crops) in Macon and Dooly counties. Joe was a fourth-generation farmer of this land.

Shirley and Joe settled into the community in Montezuma, raising their two children Malcom (1964) and Michelle (1966). The DeVaughns particularly enjoyed “motoring to” (i.e., vacationing) in Shirley’s home state of Florida, often travelling down one coast and up the other, stopping at various resorts of the era. Some became family favorites. These trips included a visit to Walt Disney World with the family (including Shirley’s Orlandoan parents) on the first day that it opened in 1971.

Following the death of her husband, Shirley relocated to Atlanta and then later to Athens, Georgia where she maintained a real estate brokerage business with her son Malcom. While living in Montezuma, she had originally developed her skills as a realtor with Richardson Free Realty before starting her own firm, DeVaughn Realty.

Shirley is survived by her son Malcom DeVaughn (Joy Simonton) of Athens, Georgia and daughter Michelle DeVaughn Jones (Leon S. Jones) of Atlanta, Georgia, grandchildren Camille Jones Mashman (Devin Mashman) of Decatur, Georgia, and Emma Holleman Jones of Boston, Massachusetts, and nephew Thomas David Malcom, Jr. of New Smyrna, Fla., and grandnephews Cole and Bo Malcom of New Smyrna, Fla., together with many nieces and nephews in the DeVaughn family. 

She is preceded in death by her husband Joseph Holleman DeVaughn (deceased 2007), brother Thomas David Malcom, Sr. (deceased 2020) and niece Ginger Rose Malcom (deceased 2017).

A memorial service will be held at the Felton Cemetery, Highway 49, Montezuma, Georgia on Sunday, September 28, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. Rev. Richard Nelson will officiate. Service to be followed by a reception at the McKenzie Country Club, 301 Golf Course Drive, Montezuma, Georgia.