Obituaries for June 27, 2003
Published 11:46 am Wednesday, December 7, 2005
John Carroll Barber
RALEIGH, N.C. – John Carroll Barber, 58, of Raleigh, formerly of Nashville, died Tuesday, June 24, 2003, at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the chapel of Lovein Funeral Home in Nashville. The Rev. Ronnie Lawson will officiate. Burial will follow at Vickers Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. Sunday until the hour of services at Lovein Funeral Home.
Born Aug. 17, 1944, in Tift County, Mr. Barber was the son of Carroll Floyd Barber and Elma Louise Harper, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by a sister, Jackie Lazar.
He was employed with Food Lion in Raleigh.
Mr. Barber is survived by two sons, Tony Barber of Griffin and Tim Barber of Moultrie, and one brother, Holt Barber of West Berrien.
Lovein Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
James Parker Brown
MONTEZUMA – James Parker Brown, 79, of Montezuma, died Wednesday, June 25, 2003.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. today at Montezuma United Methodist Church. The Rev. William Grantham will officiate. Burial will follow at Andersonville National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the Montezuma United Methodist Church or the League of Good Samaritan at Magnolia Manor in Americus.
Born in Macon County, Mr. Brown was the son of Marvin T. Brown and Marilou Parker Brown, both deceased. He was a retired peach farmer and insurance agent.
He attended The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., and served in the Third Army in World War II in the European Campaign as a first lieutenant, receiving the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. He was the past president of the Montezuma Kiwanis Club; past president of the Macon County Chamber of Commerce; served on the Georgia Peach Council; served as a director of the local Wachovia Bank; and was chairman of the board of trustees of Montezuma United Methodist Church.
Mr. Brown is survived by his wife, Martha Bowen Brown of Montezuma; a son and daughter-in-law, Marvin and Marci Brown of Athens; two daughters and sons-in-law, Beth and Jim Nalls of Atlanta and Karen and Greg Austin of Americus; two sisters, Mary Sewell of Atlanta and Ann Cunningham of Greenville, S.C.; and seven grandchildren.
Watson-Mathews Funeral Home in Montezuma is in charge of arrangements.
Blake Day
TIFTON – Blake Day, 19, of Tifton, died Wednesday, June 25, 2003, in an automobile accident on Jekyll Island.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Sonrise Chapel. The Rev. Thomas Bundrick will officiate.
In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the Shannon Day Scholarship Fund, Colony Bank, Tifton.
Born April 27, 1984, Mr. Day was the son of Randolph Lee Day and Teresa Woodard Day, both of Tifton. He was a student and was working as a lifeguard at Summer Waves Water Park on Jekyll Island. He attended Sonrise Chapel, Tift Avenue Church of God and Union Grove Church of God.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Day is survived by one sister, Shannon Day of Tifton, and his grandparents, J.Y. and Betty Day of Douglas, Quinn Adams of Brunswick and the Rev. Archie Kight of West Green. He was preceded in death by his grandmother, Dorothy Woodard Kight, and his grandfather, Hampton Woodard.
Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals is in charge of arrangements.
Margie P. Merchant
ALAPAHA – Margie Pitts Bishop Merchant, 69, of Alapaha, died Tuesday, June 24, 2003, in Tifton.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. today at the chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. The Rev. Billy Dawson and the Rev. Joseph Crumley will officiate. Burial will follow at Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Willacoochee.
Kenneth Vickers, Tim Mercahnt, Dustin Pitts, Terry Merchant, and Joe Vickers will serve as pallbearers. Hononary Pallbearers will be Ken Harper, Carl McMath, Tony Beal, Keith Futch, Roger Smith, Heath Greer, Drew Cox and Alan Bishop.
Born June 20, 1934, in Tift County, Mrs. Merchant was the daughter of Zelma Lois Pitts of Tifton and the late Lowell Leon Pitts. She was also preceded in death by her first husband, William Vernon Bishop, and by one son, Lowell Jeff Bishop, who died in 1999.
She had lived in the Tiftarea all of her life and was retired from Tifton Surgical Clinic.
Mrs. Merchant is survived by her husband, Carroll Merchant of Alapaha; one son, William Randall Bishop of Tifton; three daughters, Jenia Beal of McDonough, Donna Merchant Futch of White House, Tenn., and Lynn Merchant Smith of Tifton; two brothers, Lowell Douglas Pitts of Tifton and Gene Pitts of Tucson, Ariz.; and nine grandchildren, Alan Bishop, Drew Cox, Deidra Greer, Austin White, Brittany Beal, Tyler Beal, Brandi Futch, Morgan Futch and Jamie Futch.
Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals is in charge of arrangements.
Wilma Gamble Goff
VALDOSTA – Wilma Gamble Goff, 83, of Valdosta, formerly of Tifton, died Thursday, June 26, 2003, at South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. Dr. W. Ches Smith, III will officiate. Burial will follow at Oakridge Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. Saturday until the hour of services at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Born Jan. 3, 1920, in Parrott, Mrs. Goff was the daughter of Dave Gamble and Ellie Butler Gamble, both deceased. She was also preceded in death by her husband, U. Vinson Goff, and by two brothers and two sisters.
She was clerk for the Tift County Commission for 25 years and worked at the Georgia Department of Labor until her retirement. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Tifton.
Mrs. Goff is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Ellie and Lex Bishop of Baltimore, Md., and Marolyn and Jim Bearden of Valdosta; four grandchildren, Brook Bearden, Ashley Bearden Fielding, Megan Bishop and Melissa Bishop; and one great-grandchild, Abbie Kate Bearden.
Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals is in charge of arrangements.