John H. Thurmond

John H. Thurmond, 76, of Bishop died July 27, 2008. He was born October 22, 1931 in Morgan County to the late Lillie May Davis and the late Jesse James Thurmond. He was preceded in death by his wife, the late Hazel Lois Durden Thurmond.
He is survived by his daughters Rosa Ann Patton of Winder, Lola Stone of Madison, Martha Stone of Bishop, Penny Owens of North Carolina, Jackie Thurmond of New York and Loretta Williams of Gray; a son Ricky Thurmond of Bishop; sister Louise Griffin of Eatonton; brother Joe Thurmond of Bishop, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Funeral service was held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 29 at the chapel of Meadows Funeral Home with the Rev. Randy Thompson, Rev. Mike Thurmond and Rev. Lamar Casper officiating. Interment followed at Westbrook Cemetery in Bishop.
Meadows Funeral Home Inc was in charge of arrangements.

Walter Curtis Butler Jr.

Walter Curtis Butler Jr., 64, was born December 12, 1943 in Morgan County, to Walter Curtis Butler Sr. and the late Hattie Mae Mitchell Butler. He was the grandson of the late West and Bertha Mitchell (maternal) and the late Vinson Butler and Sallie Kate Taylor (paternal). His siblings are Ernest Vinson, Helen Marie, Bobby and Melvin Butler and an adopted sister, Linda Diane Veasley.
He graduated from Pearl High School in 1962. He received certification and licensure as a Certified USDA Meat Inspector in 1975; licensed security and insurance agent for Primerica in 1990; and certified as a County Commissioner from the University of Georgia in 1994 and Advance Certified Commissioner in 2006; and certified in American Red Cross Disaster Relief in 2006. His career included the following positions: supervisor for Watertown Manufacturer for eight years; certified USDA meat inspector for the Georgia Department of Agriculture for three and one-half years; shipping supervisor for Nimslo 3 – Deminsion Camera one and one-half years; customer and office services/ Accounting Analyst for AT&T, Western Electric and Lucent Technologies for 23 years; Entrepreneur with Primerica Insurance as a licensed security and insurance agent from 1990 to 2008. He retired from Lucent Technologies after 12 years as an Accounting Analyst in 2004.
Mr. Curtis was united in marriage with Laura B. Wilson on June 2, 1967 and to this union three children were born, LaVelle, Celeste and Walter Curtis Butler III. He was the proud grandfather of five grandsons, Terry Lemon Jr., Michael Evans, Christopher Evans, Caleb Emanuel Sims and Jaden Butler.
He was a dedicated Christian and a lifelong member of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Buckhead, where he served as Chairman of the Board of Deacons. He was a member of the Trustee Board, Senior Choir, and assistant Sunday school superintendent for 30 years, and treasurer of the Building Fund.
Since 1969 Mr. Curtis served the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He helped facilitate the organization of the local branch in Morgan County in 1969. He was a Life Member and Subscribing Golden Heritage Member. Under his leadership as State President of the Georgia State Conference of NAACP, a State office was re-established, a budget developed that included funds for the Youth and College Division, an annual Lobbying Day at the Capitol, several major marches in and out of the state of Georgia, securing 88 fax machines for NAACP units of Georgia and the State Voter Empowerment office for two years.
He maintained several positions in the organization on the local and state levels including the Southeast region Medgar Evers Awards 1995 and 1996; member of the NAACP Club 100 Membership Club; Morgan County Branch Earl T. Shinhoster Awards, Georgia State Conference President’s award 2001-2001 and 2006; Southeast Conference Regional Director’s Award 2005; Voter Empowerment Award, the Kelly M. Alexander Sr. State Conference President Leadership Award 1996; Harry T and Harriet Moore State Conference Leadership Award 1994; Henry County NAACP Man of the Year Award 2006; Morgan County NAACP Outstanding Service Award 1999; Robert B. Flanagan President’s Award 1980, Georgia State Conference Ruby Hurley Leadership Award 2002; Earl T. Shinhoster Freedom Fighter Award 2001; Region V. Service Award, 12 years; Georgia State Conference 2005; Tifton Youth Council Appreciation Award 2005; Region V Civil Rights Advocacy Training Institute Award 2004; Colquitt County NAACP Dedicated Service Award 1994; Lucille Black Membership Award 1998 and 1999; Morgan County NAACP 38 years Service Award, 2007; Secretary of State Outstanding Contribution Award (Cathy Cox) 2000.
Other community awards include A. L. Williams Hard Hitter Award 1988; State of Georgia Excellence Service Award  (Governor Roy Barnes) 1999; A. L. Williams Fast Track Recruit Award, Wave Region 1987; Morgan County Extension Service Leadership Award 1986; Morgan County Child Development Contribution Award; Northeast Georgia Black Leadership Council 1998; The Concerned Men of Oglethorpe County Leadership Award 2003; Shaklee Supervisory Award 1981; Springfield Baptist Church Service Award 1981; A. L. Williams Regional Manager Award 1988; Morgan County NAACP 25 Year Service Award as Commissioner 2007; Georgia Community Action Association Human Rights Award 2001; Georgia Summit of African American Business Organizations Supporter of the Year; Resolution Morgan County and City of Madison Outstanding Citizen 2007; The Georgia Informer 2004 Top Fifty (most influential Black Men in Georgia); 2008 Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Heritage Award.
Mr. Butler was an elected County Commissioner of Morgan County for over 25 years. He was the first African American to serve as an elected County Commissioner in Morgan County and served as the vice-chairman of Board of Commissioner.
Among all the other accolades and activities he was intensely involved in various civic and public organizations past and present; State Commission of Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday; Northeast Georgia Black Leadership Council; Criminal Justice Coordinating Council; Action Inc. Board of Director, vice-chairman 2004 and chairman 2005; Madison Masonic Lodge # 209; Coalition for the People’s Agenda; Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials; Life Member of Pearl-Burney Alumni Association; Fannie Lou Hammer Projects; Association of County Commissioner of Georgia (ACCG); ACCG Black Caucus of Georgia; Democratic Party of Georgia; Morgan County Democratic Party; Georgia Legal Services; Morgan County Civic League and Morgan County Hospital Authority.
Mr. Butler died Friday, August 1, 2008 at Henry County Medical Center. He answered the call and is now seeking new treasures with those loved ones who have gone before, his mother, Hattie Mae Butler; brothers, Melvin L. and Bobby Butler; grandparents, Bertha and West Mitchell, Vinson Butler and Sallie Kate Taylor; niece, Ashley Shaunice Butler; aunts, Flora Marie Veasley and Annie Maude Ross.
He will always be loved and remembered by his wife, Laura Wilson Butler; devoted and caring daughters, LaVelle Frenchette (Terry Sr.) Lemon of Madison, Lauretha Celeste (Jamond) Sims of McDonough; son, Walter Curtis Butler III (Quiana) of Fort Valley; and the apples of his eye his grandsons, Terry Lemon Jr., Michael Evans, Christopher Evans, Caleb Emanuel Sims and Jaden Butler; father Walter Curtis Butler Sr.; brother Ernest Vinson (Stella); sisters, Helen Marie Butler and Linda Diane Veasley; sisters-in-law, Thelma Butler, Georgie Lee Wilson, Johnnie N. Ross, Louvenia Tanks (Ralph), brother-in-law, James B. Wilson (Nellie Ann) and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and an abundance of God’s children and friends.
The Memorial Tribute was held at 5 p.m. Friday, August 8 at Morgan County High School Auditorium with Rev. Charles L. White Jr., Deputy Chief of Field Operations, NAACP, Baltimore, Maryland, presiding.
Funeral service was held at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 9 at Springfield Baptist Church with the Rev. Bobby Patman, Rev. Willie Williams, Rev. Hoke L. Smith, Minister Corey Vinson Butler, and Rev. Dr. Nelson B. Rivers III, all officiating.
Interment was in Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Buckhead. The repast immediately followed interment at Morgan County High School.
Pallbearers were Morgan County Commissioners, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Deacons, NAACP Georgia State Conference and Madison Sun Lodge No. 209.
Flower Bearers were Madison Order of Eastern Star No. 165, Georgia State Conference Women In NAACP (WIN), Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Deaconesses and neighbors.
Honorary Bearers were NAACP Southeast Region State Conference Presidents.
Mapp-Gilmore Funeral Services, Inc. was in charge of arrangements.

Jeremiah Crawford

Jeremiah Crawford, 85, died August 1, 2008. He was born May 29, 1923, the son of the late John Rhodes Sr. and the late Mary Criddell. The late Matt and Pearl Crawford raised him.
He enjoyed hunting and fishing and sharing fond childhood memories. He left the farming life of Georgia, traveled throughout the country and settled in Detroit in 1950. He worked at Hygrade Meat Packing Plant and then joined Ford Motor Company where he worked until he retired.  After retiring he returned to Madison to assist his mother until her death.
He is survived by seven children, sons, Carl and Gerald; five daughters, Cheryl, Anita, Ramona, Jacqueline and Pearl; two brothers, Albert and John Rhodes Jr., two sisters, Susie Shavers and Ethel Alexander, nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his sisters, Julia, Mattie, Edie, Mable and Betty; and two brothers, Jessie and Johnnie.
Funeral service was held Saturday, August 9 at Greenville Church in Greensboro, with the pastor, Terry Dorsey officiating. Interment was in Greenville Baptist Church Cemetery.
Flower bearers were his nieces and pallbearers were his nephews.
Mapp-Gilmore Pyramid, LLC was in charge of arrangements.

Asa Lee Allen

Asa Lee Allen, 76, died Sunday, August 3, 2008. A native of Athens, Mr. Allen was the son of the late Grace Strickland and Asa T. Allen. He was a retired grading and paving foreman and was of the Baptist faith. Mr. Allen was preceded in death by a son, Donny Asa Allen, brothers, Samuel and B.T. Allen and grandson, Ty Reed.
Survivors include his children, Douglas Allen and wife, Becky of Athens, Caren Reed and husband, Tim of Social Circle, Connie Peterman and husband, Randy of Watkinsville and Danny Allen and wife, DeLois of Winterville; their mother, Frances Allen Bowers of Watkinsville; grandchildren, Daren and Scott Reed, Trasa and Trent Peterman; and six great-grandchildren.
A memorial service for Mr. Allen will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to "The Ty Reed Memorial Scholarship," c/o Tim Reed, 829 Alcova Dr., Social Circle, GA 30025. Bernstein Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Joe Ed Whittaker

Joe Ed Whittaker, 41, died August 7, 2008 at Heartland Hospice Care in Conyers following a long illness.
He was the beloved son of Clark, Mary and Jeri Whittaker.
He is survived by his parents, one aunt, Ann Mathews and first cousins, Greg, Brant, John Whittaker, Georgeanne Carter, Chris, Brent, Richard Bowie and Annise Furis.
Graveside services were held August 10 at Lawnwood Cemetery in Covington. Following the graveside services a reception was held at Caldwell and Cowan Funeral Home.

Brady Harrison Jones Jr.

Brady Harrison Jones Jr., 83, of Madison died Friday, August 8, 2008. Junior, as he was affectionately known, was born in Jackson County on August 10, 1924 to Brady H. Jones and Edna Davis Jones. The family moved to Morgan County in 1928. He was married to Lillie Bell Cobb. He retired from Wellington Mills.
He is survived by his wife, Lillie Bell Jones and one son, Jimmy and his wife Shelby; three grandchildren, Pamela and Lupe Tirado of Buckhead, Spencer and Mandi Jones of Rutledge and Ricki Jones of Madison; and two great-grandchildren, Javier and Aiden Tirado.
A memorial service was held at 2 p.m. Sunday, August 10 at the family home in Madison.
A. E. Carter Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

John Harold Young

John Harold Young, of Greensboro, Georgia, died on August 8, 2008. He was born on March 28, 1923 in Walton County to Thomas Ganaway Young and Ethel Pearl Norris Young. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Barbara Louise Underwood Young, sons Mike Young and wife Julie Young of Watkinsville, Greg Young and wife Cindy Young of Madison, Jeff Young and wife Debra Young of Monroe; sisters, Dorothy Deaton and Pearl Deaton; grandchildren, Shane Young, Jason and Jaimie Young, Katie and Josh Miller, Matthew Dickens, Kimberly and David Leach, Travis and Crystal Young, Lucy E. Young, Jessy Mae Young, Colt Young, Bryan and Holly Young, Nikki and Bradley Janes, Michele and Tommy Thrailkill, Brian Dodson and Ashleigh and Justin McCormack; great grandchildren, Cody and Tanna Young, Shyann Miller and Kaj Miller, Daniel Young, Jaden Janes, Mikaela Thrailkill and Xander Thrailkill; and a host of other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his siblings, Violet Barber, Tommy Lee Young, Ozella Barber, Nannie Mae Young, Earla Peters, Jack Young and Billy Young.
Mr. Young was raised on a sharecropper farm. He left school after the fifth grade to assist his father and siblings in working the farm. He served his beloved country with distinction in both theaters during World War II returning home in 1946. He married Barbara Louise Underwood in 1948 and started a small farm in Social Circle, Georgia. In 1951 he moved his family to Atlanta to work at General Motors, Fisher Body Plant in Lakewood. In 1953 Mr. Young began working for International Paper Company. He served that company faithfully in a career that spanned four decades. He started as a maintenance worker but quickly rose through the ranks working in sales traveling first around the Southeast selling products to small family dairies and then traveling around the United States as a special accounts manager selling products which he helped to design and develop. During this time he advanced due to an outstanding work ethic and desire to constantly upgrade his education.
Throughout his life Mr. Young served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher, first at Cleveland Avenue Baptist Church in Atlanta and then, after retirement at First Baptist Church of Greensboro. He especially enjoyed working with children in the church's AWANA program. He served as the president on many occasions for organizations such as the Southeast Atlanta Athletic Association and the Walter F. George High School PTA.
He never met a stranger and enjoyed talking to others swapping war stories and other interesting tales. Mr. Young enjoyed hunting and fishing and had a genuine love for nature which he instilled in his children and grandchildren, teaching them the importance of being good stewards of Georgia's wildlife.
Funeral services were held Monday, August 11 at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church in Greensboro with Rev. Michael Hardy and Rev. Colin Duncan officiating. Graveside Services with full military honors were  held at 2 p.m. at Hill Haven Memory Gardens in Monroe. McCommons Funeral Home, 109 W. Broad St., Greensboro, GA, (706) 453-2626, is in charge of arrangements. Visit us at www.mccommonsfuneralhome.com to sign the online guest register.

Terri Lynn Robbins O’Daniel

Terri Robbins O’Daniel, 51, died Saturday, August 9, 2008 at her home in Alabaster, Ala. She was born September 11, 1956 in Rushville, Ind., to Eulalah Robbins of Madison, and to the late Jack Robbins.
She and her family moved to Madison in 1959 when her father received a transfer to this area as CEO of International Furniture Company.
She graduated from Morgan County High School in 1975 and went on to complete several different degree programs within the medical field; including degrees in Data Processing, Nursing and Medical Para-legal.
During the early 1980s, Terri played a vital role in the establishment of the first modern day computer system at St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens.
She had been employed as an OR supervisor and surgical nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla., for the past 17 years.
She is survived by her husband, Jim O’Daniel, of 20 years; two step-sons and their wives, Jamie and Michele O’Daniel and Kent and Sonya O’Daniel; and one step-daughter and husband, Donna and Allen Ryals, all of Alabaster, Ala. She is also survived by her mother, Eulalah Robbins, of Madison; two sisters, Sue Bryan and husband Charles of Gainesville, Fla., and Peggy Young of Madison; three nieces, Michele Bryan of Orlando, Fla., Cynthia Smith and Sharon Young of Madison; and one nephew, Scott Bryan of Gainesville, Fla.
A memorial service is planned for Friday, August 15 at 1 p.m. at A.E. Carter Funeral Home in Madison, with the Reverend Steve Brown officiating.