Anna Nolan Shackelford, 87, of Loganville, formerly of Snellville, went home to be with her Lord on November 14, 2025, surrounded by love and with her family by her side at Cristian’s House in Loganville. Anna was preceded in death by her husband of almost 50 years, Robert Wayne Shackelford, former Georgia DOT Commissioner, who died on Tuesday, September 1, 2009. They were married on December 20, 1959.
Born on December 31, 1937, in Rockmart, to the late Hubert Lester Nolan and Julia Elizabeth Jameson Nolan, Anna graduated from Bel Air High School, Bel Air, Md., where she was editor of her class yearbook. She graduated cum laude from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics.
A member at Lawrenceville First Baptist Church, Anna gave her time generously as a volunteer to numerous organizations, both within and beyond her church community. At First Baptist, she served as a deacon, sang regularly in the church choir, led the church’s clothing mission and donated generously, including to the church’s mission and building funds and the church’s prayer garden. She was known to her friends as a “professional volunteer” and was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.
She was active with the Gwinnett County United Way, where its annual Legacy Award bears her name, the American Heart Association, Leadership Gwinnett, Gwinnett Senior Leadership, the Pilot Club international service organization, serving as an officer and board member, the Lawrenceville Cooperative Ministry, serving as a board member, and, with her husband Wayne, the Gwinnett County Fair Association and Georgia 4-H.
In addition to her role as mother and homemaker, Anna had a successful career as a real estate broker and, later in life, as the founder of Sinful Sweets, a baker of wedding and other elaborate cakes, where she also served as a board member of the International Cake Exploration Societe (ICES). Fond of gardening, she also served as caregivers for her aunts, mother and father and husband during their later years. Anna was a bright light in every room she entered, with a smile always on her face.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn and David Gazda of Athens; son, Larry Shackelford of Atlanta, son and daughter-in-law Steven Nanette Shackelford of Clay Center, Neb.; seven grandchildren, Katie Gazda Duvall (Zeb) of Buckhead, Taylor Gazda of Stillwater, Okla., Matthew Shackelford (Cassidy) of Huntington Beach, Calif., Andrew Shackelford of San Francisco, , Rachel, Lauren and Noah Shackelford of Omaha, Neb., and two great grandchildren, as well as by her sister, Linda McAllister of Leesburg, Fla., two brothers, Michael Nolan of Cleveland, Ohio, and Phillip (Sam) Nolan of Jefferson, Ga., and numerous other relatives, and a host of devoted friends.
Anna was preceded in death by her parents, Col. Hubert Lester Nolan, U.S. Army (Ret.), and Julia Elizabeth Jameson Nolan. Anna’s radiant spirit and laughter will be deeply missed, but her light will continue to shine through every life she touched.
The family wishes to thank Simona Iovescu and the rest of the staff at Cristian’s House for their devoted care of Anna in her last years. Her funeral service will be held on Friday, November 21, 2025, at 11 a.m. at Lawrenceville First Baptist Church with Dr. G. Lamar Holley and Brian Fillingim, Senior Pastor, officiating. Interment will follow at Gwinnett Memorial Park.
Those desiring may make donations to Lawrenceville First Baptist Church, the Wayne and Anna Shackelford Scholarship Fund, care of the Georgia 4-H Foundation, 304 Hoke Smith Annex, Athens, Ga. 30602, or The United Way in memory of Anna Nolan Shackelford. Condolences may be sent or viewed at www.wagesfuneralhome.com. Tom M. Wages Funeral Service, Lawrenceville has been entrusted with the arrangements.
