Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978
Lois Calhoun
CORDELE -- Funeral services for Lois Calhoun, 88, were held at 2 p.m. Monday, July 21, 2003, in the chapel of Hughes & Wright Funeral Home. Burial followed in Oklahoma Baptist Church cemetery in Wilcox County. The Revs. Sonny Dorminey, Jack Dowdy and Thurmond Collins officiated the services.
Ruth Cantrell, pianist, played soft music for the service. The Gospel Echoes sang "Amazing Grace" and "Sitting At The Feet Of Jesus." Her great-granddaughters, Misty and Amber Spradley, sang "Wish You Were Here" to taped accompaniment.
Pallbearers were Mrs. Calhoun's grandsons, Wally Calhoun, Darrell Spradley, Brian Spradley, Kyle Spradley, David Schmauzer, Michael Schmauzer and Kenny Spradley.
Honorary pallbearers were Harold Worley, Phillip Worley, Grady McBryant and Gerald Calhoun.
Mrs. Calhoun died Saturday, July 19, 2003, at her residence.
A native of Franklin County, she was the daughter of the late Minnie Fowler Brown and William Harvey Brown, and the widow of the late Dan Calhoun. She was a homemaker and a member of Oklahoma Baptist Church in Wilcox County.
Survivors include sons and daughters-in-law, Carlos Calhoun of Cordele, the Rev. Tommy (Linda) Calhoun of Fitzgerald, and Leon (Shirley) Calhoun of Centerville; daughters and sons-in-law, Virginia (Junior) Spradley of Cordele, and Barbara (Steve) Schmauzer of Fairburn; 12 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a grandson, Patrick Calhoun.
Hughes & Wright Funeral Home had charge of the arrangements.
Marie Dennard Hamilton
CORDELE -- Funeral services for Marie Dennard Hamilton will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, 2003, in the sanctuary of Gum Creek Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Gum Creek Church Cemetery. Pastor Matthew D. Hudson III will officiate the services.
Mrs. Hamilton died Thursday, July 17, 2003.
The processional will be led by Pastor Hudson and Minister Joseph Haugabrook will offer a prayer. Scripture will be read by Ministers Calvin Haugabrook and Johnny B. Dean. Selections will be given by the Greater Gum Creek Church Choir and the Providence Christian Center Praise Team. A poem will be ready her granddaughter, Jitrice Curry and church members and friends will offer words of reflection. The family will be presented with an African-American heirloom bible as a keepsake from the staff of J.W. Williams Funeral Home.
Survivors include daughters, Denise Dennard, Valerie (Minister Kenneth Sr.) Tukes and Maranda (Charles) Colbert all of Cordele, LaVetta (Zachery) Fields of Vienna, and Marshanda (John) Holmes of Ashburn; a sister, Annie L. O'Neal of Cordele; brothers, Walter (Marion) Dennard Sr. of Phoenix, Ariz., and Solomon (Evelyn) Dennard of Atlanta; 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
J.W. Williams Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.
Lory Franklin Selby
ABBEVILLE -- Funeral services for Lory Franklin Selby, 74, will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 24, 2003, in the chapel of Frazier & Son Funeral Home. Burial will be in Swain cemetery in Columbia, S.C. Frazier & Son Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.
Mr. Selby died Sunday, July 20, 2003.
Henry E. 'Papa' Merritt
ALBANY -- Funeral services for Henry Edward "Papa" Merritt, 72, will be held at 12 p.m. today, July 22, 2003, in the chapel of Hall & Hall Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Andersonville National Cemetery. The Revs. Chris Turner and R.A. Snow will officiate the services.
Mr. Merritt died Sunday, July 20, 2003, at his residence.
Musical selections for the service will be presented by Sister Regina Turner.
Mr. Merritt was born Aug. 26, 1930, in Wilcox County, to the late Thomas Mitchell Merritt and Willie Nancy Ann Bagwell Merritt. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army having served in the Korean Conflict and was retired from civil service at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany. He was a member of Lighthouse Ministries.
Survivors include his wife, Jean Carolyn Ross Merritt of Albany; a son and daughter-in-law, Earl and Janet Merritt of Pavo; three daughters and sons-in-law, Sharon A. and Dennis Newsome of Albany, Denise M. and Michael Hill of Rockford, Ill., and Elaine M. and Stan Howard of Baconton; 15 grandchildren, Jennifer Phillips, Joey Rape, Joseph Newsome, Justin Newsome, Nicole Newsome, Michelle Merritt, Chris Merritt, Vicki Merritt, Heather Merritt, Jessica Merritt Sterkeson, Connie Hill, Brian Hill, John Howard, Brent Howard and Rita Meacham; 13 great-grandchildren; three brothers and sisters-in-law, Ralph and Virginia Merritt of Omega, James and Julia Merritt of Baconton, and Leonard and Martha Merritt of St. Simons Island; and two sisters and one brother-in-law, Annie Gibbs of Thomasville, and Geraldine and Richard Curry of Smyrna.
He was preceded in death by his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Clifford and Maggie Ross; two brothers, Raymond Merritt of Tifton, and George Merritt of Mountain City; and two sisters, Mary Futch of Albany, and Willie Mae Merritt of Rochelle.
Hall & Hall Funeral Home of Albany has charge of the arrangements
Shirley Clements Mewborn
ATLANTA -- Memorial services for Shirley Clements Mewborn, 68, will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 15, 2003, at Hooly Innocent's Chapel. A private burial service will be held at Arlington Cemetery.
Mrs. Mewborn died Thursday, July 10, 2003, following a lengthy illness.
A native of Rochelle, Mrs. Mewborn was a wife, mother, grandmother and role model for women. She was a basketball star for Rochelle High School and earned an academic scholarship to Western Carolina Teacher's College in Cullowhee, N.C. After one year, she transferred to Georgia Tech and became one of the first two women to graduate in 1956. She earned her degree in electrical engineering. She married
her college sweetheart, Francis Bruce "Duke" Mewborn, a Georgia Tech Alumnus, and began her path of success in Atlanta. She juggled her work, her volunteerism and her family beautifully, raising two daughters. She and Duke worked hard, but enjoyed life to the fullest. She retired as vice-president and treasurer of Southern Engineering Company in 2000, after a successful 41-year career.
Shirley received many honors in her life and earned all of them through hard work and dedication. She was particularly dedicated to Georgia Tech, being the first woman to serve as president of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. She also served as a member of the Georgia Tech Foundation Board since 1989, a member of School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Board, chairman of the Georgia Tech Research Corporation, the Georgia Tech Advisory Board and several steering committees. She and Duke established the Shirley Mewborn Perseverance Scholarship Fund for female students at Georgia Tech and the Francis and Shirley Mewborn Endowment Council Fund. Shirley was named one of Atlanta's Top Ten Business Women in 1991, and was inducted into the Georgia Tech Engineering Hall of Fame and was a recipient of the 1994 College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award.
In March 2003, she received the Joseph Mayo Pettit Alumni Distinguished Services Award, the highest award conferred by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. In July 2003, Shirley was unanimously elected to the Georgia Technology Hall of Fame, a prestigious award for leaders who have shaped the growth of technology in Georgia.
Shirley loved to help students and gave many speeches about perseverance and leadership. She was passionate about Georgia Tech Women's Basketball, occasionally traveling with the team and was often seen as the guest coach on the bench. The program recently established a scholarship for engineering students on the women's basketball team: the Shirley C. Mewborn Scholarship. She was a charter member of the Gamma Eta chapter of Alpha Xi Delta Sorority at Georgia Tech, holding meetings at the president's home because there was no sorority house on the campus. She has always given back to her sorority, counseling students about the challenges of college.
Shirley served on the Advisory and House Boards for the Gamma Eta chapter at Georgia Tech and was chairman of the Alpha Xi Delta National Foundation Trustees for the last three years. She has been very instrumental in the acquisition of a new campus home for the girls, which will be named the Shirley Mewborn and Gay Dull Alpha Xi Delta House. Shirley loved to fish and always caught the biggest fish or the most fish. She broke a record with a trout she caught in Alaska in 2001, on a trip with her husband and a fine group of friends. She was an excellent tennis player and headed up the volunteers for many years at the AT&T; Tennis Challenge in Atlanta. She was a member of Holy Innocent's Episcopal Church for 43 years. Her family and many friends will miss Shirley dearly, but her spirit and zest for life will carry on forever.
Survivors include her husband of 46 years, Francis Bruce "Duke" Mewborn II; her daughters, Michele Mewborn Shapley and Virginia Duke Mewborn; her son-in-law, Rick Shapley; her grandchildren, Michael Vaughn Shapley (7) and Marie Ann Shapley (2); her brothers, Samuel Jackson Clements and Charles William Clements Jr.; and a sister, Mary L. Clements.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Shirley Mewborn Perseverance Scholarship Fund for Women at Tech through the Georgia Tech Foundation at 177 North Ave., Atlanta, Ga., 30332-0182.
H.M. Patterson and Son, Arlington Chapel of Atlanta has charge of the arrangements.
Mary Julia Williams Faris
CORDELE -- Graveside services for Mary Julia Williams Faris will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 13, 2003, at Graveside Sunnyside Cemetery.
Mrs. Faris died Friday, July 11, 2003, at Crisp Regional Hospital.
A native of Crisp County, she was a retired kindergarten teacher and a member of Cordele First Baptist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, James Hurt of Cordele and Thurman Rivers of Jacksonville, Fla.; a brother, Jake Williams of Cordele; six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Hughes & Wright Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.
Roy Scarborough Jr.
UNADILLA -- Funeral services for Roy Scarborough Jr., 71, will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, July 14, 2003, in First Baptist Church, Unadilla. Burial will follow in Walnut cemetery in Unadilla.
Julius Chandler Askew
Infant Julius Chandler Askew, son of Clifton Askew Sr. and Lakisha Martin Askew of Vienna, died Thursday, July 10, 2003, in Crisp Regional Hospital. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by J.W. Williams Funeral Home of Cordele.
Pearlie Mae Woodson
Pearlie Mae Woodson of Unadilla died Thursday, July 10, 2003, in Taylor Regional Hospital in Hawkinsville. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by Alvie Coes Funeral Home of Unadilla.
Willie McBryant
PITTS -- Funeral services for Willie McBryant, 58, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 30, 2003, in Cannonville Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Cannonville Cemetery. The Revs. Jimmy McDuffie and Jack Dowdy will officiate the services.
Mr. McBryant died Sunday, July 27, 2003, in the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon.
Born Sept. 24, 1944, in Irwin County, he was a farmer and was of the Baptist faith.
Survivors include his wife, Sarah S. McBryant of Pitts; his mother, Inez McBryant of Pitts; a son, James McBryant of Fitzgerald; a daughter, Ellen McBryant of Pitts; brothers, Grady McBryant Jr. and Gene McBryant both of Cordele, and Jimmy McBryant of Warwick; sisters, Lutrelle Holt of Trion, and Jackie Jones of Pitts; and two grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his father, the late Grady McBryant Sr.
Visitation will be from 7-9 p.m. today at the funeral home.
Frazier & Son Funeral Home of Rochelle has charge of the arrangements.
Willie H. "Smiley" Burks
Willie H. "Smiley" Burks of Cordele died Tuesday, July 15, 2003, at his residence. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by J.W. Williams Funeral Home.
Elma Lee Cherry
UNADILLA -- Funeral services for Elma Lee Cherry were held at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 26, 2003, in Brown Chapel Baptist Church in Unadilla. Burial followed in Evergreen Cemetery. The Rev. J.T. Hill officiated the services.
Mrs. Cherry died Wednesday, July 23, 2003, in a local nursing home.
A native of Wilcox County, she was the daughter of the late Levy Way and Beulah Duhart Way. She was a member of Brown Chapel Baptist Church where she served as a missionary and mother of the church. She was a member of the St. John Chapter No. 88, OES. She attended Dooly County public schools and was the widow of the late Willie S. Cherry.
Survivors include her children, L.D. Kendrick Sr., Glory Cherry Lester, Earl Cherry and Vincent (Bobbie J.) Cherry all of Unadilla, Mamie (Clinton) Duhart of Atlanta, and Clara Cherry of Stone Mountain; 30 grandchildren; one adopted grandchild; 58 great-grandchildren; 19 great-great-grandchildren; and a host of other relatives.
The family may be contacted at the residence.
Alvie Coes Funeral Home of Unadilla had charge of the arrangements.
