CONYERS — Dee Plymel Sports, 71, died Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007, after an extended illness from a liver disease diagnosed three years ago. She had been under hospice care at home in Conyers for the past three months.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10, at the Ebenezer United Methodist Church, 2533 Stanton Road in Conyers with the Revs. Robert Brown and CeCe Nickolich officiating. Tributes will be given by state Reps. Tommy Smith of Alma, Ga., and Margaret Kaiser of Atlanta, Ga., former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, former U.S. Congressman Dawson Mathis, and Truett Andrew, vice president and trustee of Paul Anderson Youth Home.

Pallbearers will be Don Sports Jr., Greg Giddens, Joseph Giddens, Kenny Wilson, Keith Wilson, James Plymel and Sonny Gardner. Boys from the Paul Anderson Youth Home will serve as honorary pallbearers.

Burial will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11, at Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery with the Rev. Thomas Parrish officiating and Cobb Funeral Chapel in charge of arrangements.

Born Jan. 21, 1936, in Brooks County, Mrs. Sports completed high school in Thomasville and graduated from Dell Institute of Medical Technologists in Ashville, N.C. She was the daughter of Ed and Sara Branch Plymel of Thomasville and granddaughter of John and Minnie Branch of Pavo, all of whom preceded her in death. Beginning in 1983, she was on the staff of Georgia’s Secretary of State, serving as personal secretary to Assistant Secretary of State Curtis Atkinson. She also worked at the State Archives for two years prior to her retirement from state government in 2000.

She was medical technician at the Douglas Coffee County Hospital in Douglas when she met and married newspaper reporter Joe Sports. She accompanied her husband to Germany and lived in Garmisch during his Army service and traveled in 13 countries. On two occasions, they lived in Washington, D.C., when he was assistant to Congresswoman Iris Blitch and as chief of staff of U.S. Sen. David Gambrell.

The couple had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on Feb. 24 in Conyers, Ga. A resolution in the Georgia General Assembly earlier this year commended Dee Sports for “unyielding strength and unparalleled inspiration to her family, her community, church and state government.”

She is survived by her husband, Joe Sports, who was executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia during the administrations of Govs. Lester Maddox and Jimmy Carter, and congressional assistant before becoming a legislative consultant and publisher of a newsletter, Georgia Beat. Their daughter is Susan Sports, information officer for the State of Georgia’s Department of Driver Services, and they have two grandsons, Ali Joseph and Amir Sadighi.

She is also survived by an aunt, Elizabeth Snider of Pavo, Ga.; sister-in-law, Ida Mae Sports of Claxton, Ga.; sister, Ann Sports Messmore and husband Jasper of Dunwoody, Ga.; niece, Sandra Toler, of Nashville, Tenn.; nephews, W. Don Sports Jr. of Macon, Ga., Greg Giddens of Atlanta, and Joseph Giddens of Atlanta; and several cousins from the Sports, Branch and Plymel families.

Visitation will be Sunday, Sept. 9, at Rockdale Chapel of Horis A. Ward Funeral Home, located at 1999 Hwy. 138 S.W. in Conyers, Ga., from 7 to 9 p.m.

There is a Dee Sports Memorial Fund at the Paul Anderson Youth Home, Inc., Box 525, Vidalia, Ga. 30375, which was the first client when the Sports began a public relations firm in 1971.

Horis A. Ward Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.