Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978
Bonnie Ruth Weems Harper
Bonnie Ruth Weems Harper, age 85, of 504 Orchard View Lane, Lakemont, Georgia died Monday morning at her residence.
A native of Floyd County, Mrs. Harper was born March 27, 1919, daughter of the late William Clarence and Mattie Lee Smith Weems. She had been a resident of Rome most other life, moving to Clayton several years ago with her husband James to be nearer their children. She was a member of the Maple Street Baptist Church and after it’s move to the present location, the Second Avenue Baptist Church. She was a hairdresser for 50 years.
Survivors include her husband, James Harper, to whom she was married
May 10, 1942; two daughters and a son in law Suzanne Harper Massey of Clarkesville and Ruth and Cannon Ramey of Lakemont GA; a son and daughter in law Larry and Ann Harper of Birmingham, AL.; Seven grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren also survive.
Funeral services for Bonnie Ruth Weems Harper will be conducted at 2 PM Thursday in the Maple Street Chapel of the Second Avenue Baptist Church in Rome Georgia with the Reverends Monty Stallins, and Warren Huddleston Officiating. The family will greet friends after the service. iIntermentwill precede the service at Sunset Hills Memorial Gardens.
Daniels Funeral Home of Rome Georgia is in charge of services in Rome GA. Beck Funeral home is in Charge of the Local arrangements.
Patricia Ann Tate Nelson
Patricia Ann Tate Nelson, age 46, of Rabun Gap passed away at Emory University Hospital April 27, 2004.
Pat was born February 16, 1958 in Chattanooga Tennessee the daughter of John D. Tate and Simone Hyton Tate. She was a nurse for many years, and was employed at National Textiles in Rabun Gap Georgia. She attended St. Helena Catholic Church.
She is survived by Craig Nelson of the home; her parents; two children Jared Nelson, Natalie Nelson of the home; one sister Cathy Curtis of Ringgold Georgia.
A memorial service will conducted by St Helena Catholic Church in the Chapel at Beck Funeral Home Thursday April 29, 2004 at 1:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society 2200 Century Parkway Suite 950 Atlanta GA 30345 in memory of Mrs. Patricia Ann Nelson.
Ruth Ann Haddie Guthrie
Ruth Ann Haddle Guthrie, age 81 of Clayton GA. passed away May 3, 2004 in Atlanta.
She was born January 26, 1923 in Hapeville GA. the daughter of Thomas W. Haddle and Essie Taylor Haddle. She was an avid tennis player and loved to fish and play bridge, and was a homemaker most of her life. She was preceded in death by her husband Jack D. Guthrie.
She was a loving Wife, Mother and Grandmother. She is survived by one son Jack Douglas Guthrie Jr. of Lawrenceville GA; two daughters Marianne Guthrie Meyer of North Augusta SC; Lindy Guthrie Martin of Sugar Hill GA; and one brother Tom Haddle. Two Granddaughters; and two Grandsons also survive.
The family will receive friends Wednesday May 5, 2004 from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM at Beck Funeral Home.
A Memorial Service will be held 1:00 PM Thursday May 6, 2004 in the Chapel of Beck Funeral Home with the Rev. Tim Hunnicutt officiating.
The family asks in lieu of flowers that memorial donations may be made to American Heart Association, 1353 Jennings Mill Road Suite A, Bogart, GA. 30622 in memory of Mrs. Ruth Ann Guthrie.
Beck Funeral home is in Charge of the arrangements.
John Brugman
John Brugman, age 63 of the Satolah Community passed away May 11, 2004 at Rabun County Memorial Hospital.
Mr. Brrugman was born January 13, 1941 in Winthrop, Massachusetts. He is the son of late Bernard Brugman and Muriel Whitehead Brugman. He was preceded in death by his life time companion Golden Alois Brugman and one daughter Donna Desch.
He is survived by two sons John Alan Brugman of Alexandra VA; Brian Brugman of Clayton GA; four daughters Becky Willis of Bradenton FL; Debi Gage of Cape Coral, FL; Diane Combs of Port Charlotte FL, and Dawn Johnson of Palm Bay, FL. He is also survived by two Brothers Rick Brugman of FL. and Dennis Brugman of Maryland.
A memorial graveside service will be held Friday May 14, 2004 at 5:00 PM at Macedonia Baptist Church cemetery with Rev. Larry Cannon officiating.
Beck Funeral home is in Charge of the arrangements.
Helen Isabelle Brown
Helen Isabelle Brown, age 84, Of Dillard Georgia passed away May 18, 2004 in Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Helen Isabelle was born in Harleyville SC. December 25, 1919 the daughter of the late Joseph W. Westbury and Azile Wilson Westbury. She was a graduate of Columbia College, and an active member of the Head Of Tennessee Baptist Church, and was an avid bridge player. She and her husband moved to Rabun County thirty-seven years ago. Isabelle was widowed several years ago with the passing of her husband John Marion Brown MD..
Mrs. Brown was preceded in death by her Parents, Husband, two sisters Annabelle Clamp her twin sister, Elizabeth Bundrick, and one brother Wilson Westbury.
Isabelle is survived by one daughter Gayle B. Jones of Dillard GA; one son Marion Brown of Scaly Mountain NC.; three granddaughters Kelly B. Zangerle, Melanie Brown, and Ashley Jones; Three Great-grandsons and a number of nieces and nephews also survive.
The Funeral service will be held 1:30 PM Thursday May 20, 2004 at The Head of Tennessee Baptist Church. Mrs. Brown will lie in state one hour prior to the service.
Memorial Donations May be made to the Head Of Tennessee Baptist Church P.O. Box 184 Dillard Georgia 30537 in Memory of Mrs. Brown.
Julia Margaret Cuddy LaValley
Julia Margaret Cuddy LaValley, age 64 of Clayton, GA passed away on June 2, 2004. Julia was born in Bridgeport, CT and after many years in Connecticut moved to Ocala, FL in 1972, before settling in Clayton in 1987. She established Julia’s Steak and Seafood in 1989 and the restaurant has gone on to become one of the finest restaurants in the area.
She is survived by her husband, Ernest Hansen; two daughters and spouses, Laura Moore/Gene Moore, Cheryl McKay/Joey McKay; three sons and spouses, James LaValley/Sally LaValley, Dale LaValley, Shane LaValley; two sisters, Arlene Boss, Helen Walker; one brother James Cuddy; four grandchildren Sara Upton, Tristan McKay, Joey McKay, Austin LaValley; and one great-grand daughter Alyssa Wagner.
Julia is preceded in death by her first husband James LaValley and her parents James Cuddy and Marie Margaret Anderson Cuddy.
Visitation will be Sunday June 6, 2004 from 5 PM until 7 PM. Funeral services will be conducted in the Beck Funeral Home Chapel at 11 AM on Monday June 7, 2004 with Reverend Mike Campbell of the Clayton Baptist Church officiating. iIntermentwill follow at Rabun Memorial cemetery in Tiger, GA.
Beck Funeral home is in charge of the service arrangements. If there are any questions please call 706-782-9599.
Wiley Lamar Savage, known to all as “Apple”
Wiley Lamar Savage, Known to all as Apple, age 73, of Clayton GA passed away July 17, 2004 at Lanier Park Hospital.
Apple was born in Hall County Georgia the son of the late Dank and Amy Armor Savage. He had lived in Clayton for many years and was formerly the Mayor of Clayton. He founded WALH Radio station in Mountain City GA, where he was the on air personality who we all came to love. In earlier years he had worked at WLBA, and WGGA both in Gainesville. Apple was a Charter Member of Carver Chapel Baptist Church, a Master Mason and a member of Gainesville Lodge.
A sister Imagene Gailey preceded him in death.
His loving wife Loraine Walden Savage of the home; and a host of in-laws whom he loved as his own family survives him.
The family will receive friends Sunday July 18, 2004 from 7 PM until 9 PM and Monday July 19, 2004 from 7 PM until 9 PM at Beck Funeral Home.
Funeral Services will be held Tuesday July 20, 2004 at 2:00 PM at Holly Springs Baptist Church in Clermont GA with Reverend Hugh Walden and Waymond Lunsford officiating. Mr. Savage will lie in state 30 minutes prior to the service. Burial will follow in Memorial Park cemetery in Gainesville.
In Lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to The American Cancer Society 2200 Century Parkway Suite 950 Atlanta GA 30345.
Beck Funeral home is in Charge of the arrangements.
Mary Francis Clay Bickerstaff
Mary Frances Clay Bickerstaff passed away on Wednesday, July 21, 2004. She was the daughter of William Leo Clay and Mabel Julia Smothers Clay of Edgemont, Arkansas, born on May 6, 1924. Two brothers and one sister preceded her in death. She is survived by her loving husband of 62 years, Burt McCoy Bickerstaff, Sr., sons and daughters in law, Burt McCoy Bickerstaff, Jr. and wife, Phyllis, of Dunwoody, Ga., Lawrence Clay Bickerstaff and wife, Helayne, of Clayton, Ga., daughter and son in law, Julia Anna Bickerstaff Cox and husband William, of Bethesda, Md., and daughter, Sherry Lane Bickerstaff, of Norcross, Ga. She is also survived by 7 grandchildren, Jefferson, Joshua, Amanda, Alison, Caroline, Andrew and Jennifer and several nieces and nephews. Mary was very active in the First United Methodist Church of Clayton, the Anna Asbury Circle, Mountain Ivy Garden Club and Bridge Clubs. Mary chose to donate her body to the Medical College of Ga. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Clayton, Family Life Center Bldg. Fund. A memorial celebration will be held at the First United Methodist Church of Clayton, 91 S. Main Street, P.O. Box 703, Clayton, Ga., Saturday, July 24, 2004 at 3:00 p.m.
Jack P. Keener
Jack P. Keener, age 74, of Clayton, GA passed away at Rabun Memorial Hospital on Wednesday July 21, 2004 after a long illness.
He was the son of the late William Herschel Keener and Myrtle Irene McCoy Keener. Jack was a lifelong resident of Clayton, and is survived by his wife Barbara Lee Hamby Keener of the home, a daughter Marcia Lynn Long (William Gregory Long) of Mooresville, NC; three brothers, Quentin Keener (Julie), Bend, Oregon; Kermit Keener, Rabun Gap; Bill Keener (Terry), Rabun Gap; and one sister, Virginia Justus of Rabun Gap.
Jack was a veteran of the US Army serving during the Korean Conflict, was a foreman in the textile industry, and was an avid deer hunter and outdoors man. He was a member of King Memorial Presbyterian Church.
The family will receive friends at Beck Funeral Home on Friday July 23, 2004 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Funeral Services will be conducted at the Beck Funeral Home Chapel on Saturday July 24, 2004 at 2:00 PM with Reverend Larry Cannon officiating. Burial will follow at Roane Cemetery.
Beck Funeral home is in Charge of the arrangements.
Ann Taylor
Ann Taylor, owner and Senior Director of The Dixie Camps in Clayton, Georgia for 35 years, died Tuesday August 17th, following a heart attack suffered August 11th. Ann was an Atlanta native and graduate of the University of Georgia. She received her Master's Degree in Outdoor Education and Recreation from Indiana University.
Ann's early career involved hospital recreation with the Red Cross in locations as diverse as Memphis and Baltimore. She also served as a Center Director with the DeKalb County Parks and Recreation Department.
Ann's love of the outdoors led her to the mountains of Northeast Georgia where she purchased Camp Dixie for Boys and Girls in 1969, a summer camp that had been established in 1914. Ann had not yet retired from the many duties of running Camp, and in recent years she had been an active volunteer with Meals on Wheels.
An only child, Ann is survived by her aunt, Kay Whitmore, and cousin, Laurie Rando, both of New Jersey. She is also survived by her business partner of 20 years, Rhonda Conrad, as well as a host of friends gathered over more than three decades of helping campers build strong foundations through the programs she developed and the beautiful surroundings that Dixie offers.
Arrangements have been made at Beck Funeral Home for a visitation with friends and family on Saturday August 28th, from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. A memorial service at Camp Dixie will follow, beginning at 3:00 PM. Additional information can be found on the camp's website, www.campdixie.org.
In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to the Ann Taylor Memorial Fund which has been established at Rabun County Bank, and will be used to help achieve some of the many dreams Ann had for the improvement and perpetuation of Camp Dixie. The bank has requested that for the present, checks be made payable to Rhonda Conrad with "The Ann Taylor Memorial Fund" in the "memo" portion of the check.
Beck Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Erv Melton
Erv Melton, his friends say, never stopped being a newsman.
"He would call me every week with some news, " said Carol White, a longtime friend in Clayton. "Sometimes he'd call and tell me a storm was on the way. I'd say, 'Erv, I didn't need to know that'."
Ervin T. Melton - newsman, photographer, movie producer and volunteer firefighter - died Monday following a brief stay in a Gainesville hospital. He was 83.
A memorial service is scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday at Clayton Baptist Church, where Melton was a deacon and a member of the Friendship Sunday School Class.
"I remember going over to Erv's house and he showed me all those pictures of movie stars he has known, " said the Rev. Mike Campbell, pastor of Clayton Baptist, who will lead Saturday's service. "To him, these were just ordinary people. He didn't put them up on a platform. Some he liked and some he didn't."
But in Clayton, Campbell said, "Everybody liked Erv. He would speak to everybody. There was no uppiness or egotism about him."
Son of E.T. and Mary Ethel (Thomas) Melton, Erv Melton was born Jan. 23, 1921, and reared in Bennettsville, S.C., where he learned as a teenager to operate a movie projector at the local theater.
He began his career as a reporter for the Marlboro Herald Advocate, a newspaper in Bennettsville. He received training in news production at Paramount Studios while in the U.S. Army and chronicled a number of events during World War II. He filmed the building of the road to Burma and helped produce war documentaries narrated by the late President Ronald Reagan.
As a reporter and news director, he covered events during the terms of seven presidents, including the Bay of Pigs invasion and desegregation of southern schools. He covered every hurricane to hit the east coast for 30 years.
After 20 years as news director for WBTV in Charlotte, N.C., Melton left television news to form Carmel Productions. He produced a number of his own movies and served as locations manager for such TV productions as "Movin' On" and "Dan'l Boone."
Melton's friends and family recalled his dedication to the news business and to volunteer firefighting - sometimes at the same time.
Tom Lawrence, whom Melton hired at WBTV and who now manages a production studio near Raleigh, N.C., told of riding with Melton to New York City in the 1960s to pick up film equipment.
"Erv was driving this big white and red Pontiac station wagon that had a red light and siren and contained oxygen and cot and first-aid stuff, " Lawrence said. "Taxis and everything else were getting out of our way." Melton used the vehicle in his work and as a volunteer firefighter.
Natalie Howard, a Lake Burton resident, said Melton told her and Johnny, her husband, about the time he was photographing a Ku Klux Klan rally in South Carolina when suddenly he recognized through his viewfinder the woman standing next to the burning cross. It was his wife, Bonnie.
"Well, it was cold that night, and I was trying to get warm, " Bonnie Melton said.
The Meltons moved to Clayton in 1980 after his wife retired as a teacher. Erv Melton semiretired in 1990 but continued to serve the community through volunteering. His most recent service was on the planning committee for the new Clayton Fire Department.
Besides his wife, other survivors are: his sister, Mary Melton Truesdell of Clayton; a brother-in-law, Esly O. Greene of Clayton; a sister-in-law and her husband, Violet and Kenneth Westbury of St. Matthews, S.C.; two nephews, Ken Westbury of St. Matthews, and David Westbury of Columbia, S.C.; and a niece, Bonnie Westbury Stevens of Seneca, S.C.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Clayton Fire Department, Rabun County EMS or Clayton Baptist Church building fund.
