Loretha Akins Thiele, 69, of Nashville, died Sunday, November 4 at South Georgia Medical Center, Valdosta.  She was born on March 25, 1949 in Valdosta to the late Alton Barney & Lucile Parrish Akins and grew up in Nashville in the New Lois Community where she attended the Community Methodist Church.

Her mother recognized & nurtured Loretha's gift of music, placing her under the  instruction of Mrs. Mary Ernest Houston at the early age of 5. Those years under Mrs. Houston proved to be "enlightenment" for Loretha.

She furthered her music education at Valdosta State College under the instruction of Mr. Folks Huxford.  She graduated from the University of Ga. with a degree in biology/education.  She was also a "Master 4-Her".

Loretha worked as a tour guide at the State Capitol of Ga. where she inspired a fresh approach by incorporating community, history & new ideas such as decorating the "State Tree" with help from her mother & other "Ga. Senior Citizens".  Guided tours included such distinguished dignitaries as Henry Kissinger & Prince Charles.

She, then, began a career as administrative assistant at Turner Network  where she worked in a variety of capacities during the company's tremendous growth years in Atlanta.

She performed with artists, Roman & Constantin  Chatov with Rhonda Dowes honoring the stars of the Metropolitan Opera Company in Atlanta, Ga. in 1982.

Loretha married Paul Frederick Thiele in 1995 after a long friendship & courtship.  She remained at Paul's side in Sandersville as he continued to run the Thiele Kaolin Company until his death in 2007.  She became an avid supporter of the community & the arts in the area.  She was a contributor & supporter of the Ga. Mining Association, the University of Ga. Performing Arts, the Transylvania Club of Sandersville and the Georgia Conservancy.

She is best remembered by those who knew & loved her as "extraordinarily gifted" with great attention to beauty & detail.  Her music which seemed to flow so easily from her, charmed us all.   We now return her to the Master of all music who gifted her for us.

She is survived by her sister: Linda (Wyman) Butler of Nashville; 2 brothers: Parrish (Sara) Akins of Nashville and Steve Akins (Mark Gillespie) of Atlanta; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Funeral services will be held Thursday November 8, 2018 at 3 PM in the Nashville United Methodist Church with the Rev. Don Bridges officiating. A reception will be held in Garner Hall following the service. Interment will be Friday November 9, 2018 at 12 noon at the Brownwood Cemetery in Sandersville, GA. A reception will follow in the Tennille United Methodist Church. Visitation is Wednesday from 6 to 8 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorials  are requested to the Community United Methodist Church.