A lifelong Dawsonville resident and former city council member died Thursday.

Friends say Gennie Melinda "Linda" Grant, 62, will be remembered for her devotion to her son and commitment to her hometown.

"She loved Dawsonville. No one can question that," said Gordon Pirkle, a longtime friend.

Grant served on the Dawsonville City Council from 2006-2009, including a year as mayor pro-tem.

"Linda took her job very seriously," said Dawsonville Mayor Joe Lane Cox. "She was a very sweet, caring person, who'd help you in a minute. [She'd] give you the shirt off her back."

Grant is survived by her son Dakota Lee Grant, also of Dawsonville, and niece and nephew, Niki and Corey Eubanks.

"She loved him so much. Dakota was her life," Cox said. "Everything she did, she did for him."

Grant's devotion to her son also sparked her desire to support initiatives to give local children and teens recreational opportunities in the downtown area.

One of her main goals as a councilwoman was to have an outdoor skatepark in the city limits.

"She really wanted that skateboard park," Cox said.

Having lived her entire life in the city limits, and as far as Cox can remember, in the same house, Grant "was passionate about cleaning up and revitalizing downtown," Cox said. "That's how she was raised."

That hometown pride was apparent not only in her votes on the council but also during her campaigns for office.

As a political newcomer running against two incumbents in 2005, Grant championed herself as the "hometown girl from downtown" and secured the most votes in the municipal election that November.

While Grant's 2009 re-election campaign was unsuccessful, she maintained a relationship with the council and a commitment to downtown Dawsonville.

"I want to see things done, and I want to see things done right," Grant said in 2009. "I have seen this city grow from plugging the phone in the wall to cell phones. Dawsonville has a bright future and I am proud to help be a part of it."

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. July 31 at Bearden Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow in the Harmony Baptist Church Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.