U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
Ada Belle Cunningham Wilson
Ms. Ada Belle Cunningham Wilson died Friday, April 20, 2007, at Jefferson Hospital.
Ms. Wilson was a member of Union Bethel Baptist Church.
The funeral was April 28 at 11 a.m. at the Union Bethel Baptist Church and Jordan Place cemetery with the Rev. Bobby Williams officiating.
Survivors include one son, Andrea Wilson, St. Paul, Minn.; siblings, Marie Cunningham, Rosetta Lang and Bennie Lee Wilson, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Sabrina Johnson Lumpkin and Chester Johnson, Atlanta, Susie “Lucy” Strowbridge, Jack Johnson Jr. and Cleveland Johnson, Atlanta; aunts and uncle, Ethel McCloud Nealy, Bernice Walden, Lucy Johnson and Ike Johnson, all of Louisville; and several other relatives.
Davis Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.
E. Lawrence Cook Sr.
E. Lawrence Cook Sr., M.D., 78, of Augusta died Tuesday, May 1, 2007, at Doctors Hospital.
Dr. Cook was born in Savannah and raised in Brunswick and Wrens.
He attended Wrens High School and Emory at Oxford University and received a bachelors degree in education from Georgia Teacher’s College in Statesboro.
He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 1958 and completed an internship at St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens.
He practiced family medicine in Thomson from 1959 to 1972, after which he completed a residency in psychiatry at the Medical College of Georgia.
He then served as an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Medical College from 1975 to 1980 and as an associate clinical professor from 1989 to 1993. In 1980 he entered the private practice of psychiatry in association with Physicians’ Multispecialty Group in Augusta.
A graveside service was held May 4 at 2 p.m. in Bonaventure cemetery in Savannah with the Rev. Lynn Drake officiating.
Survivors include his wife, Patricia N. Watkins, M.D.; two sons, Ernest L. Cook Jr., Atlanta, Richard N. Cook, Raleigh, NC; one daughter, Terri A. Cook, Augusta; and one grandchild, Lucy B. Cook, Raleigh, NC.
Memorials may be made to the Southeast Firefighters Burn Foundation, 3614 J. Dewey Gray Circle, Building C, Augusta, GA 30909.
Platt’s Funeral Home, Evans, was in charge of the arrangements.
Lena Windham Gordy
Mrs. Lena Windham Gordy, 76, of Louisville died Monday, April 30, 2007, at Jefferson Hospital.
Mrs. Gordy was born in Peach County.
She was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Frank Windham.
She had lived in Louisville for over 58 years.
She was a retired civil servant of the United States Department of Agriculture and was a member of the First Baptist Church of Louisville.
Graveside services were May 3 at 11:30 a.m. at Jefferson Memorial Garden in Louisville with the Revs. Larry Montgomery and Gilbert H. Rowell officiating.
Survivors include her husband, John Judson Gordy Sr.; son and daughter-in-law, John J. Gordy Jr. and Kathryn, Louisville; daughter and sonin- law, Janet Gordy Simmons and Dennis, Martinez; two sisters, Dorothy Quarles, Augusta, and Charlotte Watson, Grovetown; and four grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Louisville.
Southern Heritage Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.
Michael Steven Whitaker
Mr. Michael Steven Whitaker, 34, died Tuesday, May 1, 2007, in Trenton, NJ.
Mr. Whitaker, a native of Wrens, moved to New Jersey in 1985.
He was a member of Spring Bethel AME Church.
He attended Trenton Central High School in Trenton.
He was employed by the Hopewell Valley Board of Education in Trenton as a maintenance technician and at the Trenton Times in the printing department.
The funeral will be May 12 at 2 p.m. at Spring Bethel AME Church with the Rev. James Jenkins, Pastor Dorothy Nelson, Elder Bessie Nelson and the Rev. Minnie Davis officiating. Burial will be in the Spring Bethel Benevolent Society Cemetery.
Survivors include his parents, Barbara and James Whitaker IV of Morrisville, Pa.; his children, Jokquan, Tykwae’, Isenaye, Eddie and Giovanny, all of Trenton, NJ; three sisters, Stephanie Taylor and Vanessa Whitaker, Trenton, and Sherri Kelly, New York; one brother, James Whitaker V, Trenton; grandmother, Annie Willie Whitaker, Trenton, NJ; aunts, Mattie Turner, Mattie Hodges, Wrens, Anges Jones, St. Petersburgh, Fla.; Elder Bessie Nelson, Pastor Dorothy (Albert) Nelson, Wrens, Mary Ann Walker, Linda Whitaker and Rachel Banks, Trenton, NJ; uncles, St. John Walker, Sipp Walker, Wrens, and Willie Robert Whitaker, Trenton; cousins reared as siblings, Deborah Hodges, Thomson, David (Linda) Hodges, Washington, DC, Delois Asberry, Willis Asberry, Wrens, and Della Gregory, Glen Burie, Md.; and several other relatives. The family can be contacted at the residence of his aunt, Mattie Hodges, 411 Stephens Street in Wrens.
Burnett Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Louise Gibbons Lambry
Mrs. Louise Gibbons Lambry of Wadley died Sunday, April 28, 2007, in Augusta. The funeral was May 3 at 2 p.m. at Solomon Temple Baptist Church in Moxley with Pastor Peter Sparks officiating.
Burial was in the church cemetery.
Survivors include six daughters, Vera (Willie Albert) Hannah, Betty Jean Lambry and Annette (Ricky) Warthen, Wadley, Odella Lee, Hollywood, Fla., Queen Middleton, Swainsboro, and Fronita (Robert) Sherrod, Surrency; two sons, Lonzie (Rose Mae) Lambry, Baxley, and Frank Lambry, Augusta; a sister, Cleola Oliver, Wadley; 27 grandchildren, 28 greatgrandchildren and four greatgreat- grandchildren.
Hudson Mortuary was in charge of the arrangements.
Joe Thigpen
Mr. Joe Thigpen, 96, of Avera, died Thursday, May 3, 2007, at Jefferson Hospital.
The funeral was May 6 at 3 p.m. at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church with the Revs. Donald Lumpkin and David Davis officiating.
Burial was in the church cemetery.
Survivors include his wife, Mattie Lee Thigpen of Avera.
Memorials may be made to the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, c/o Mrs. Bobbie Kitchens, 1091 Oak Street, Avera, GA 30803.
Sheppard Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.
Willie Clyde Brinson
Mrs. Willie Clyde Brinson of Bartow died Friday, April 20, 2007.
The funeral was April 28 at 1 p.m. at Tarvers Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. J.C. Green officiating.
Burial was in the church cemetery.
Survivors include three daughters, Rhina Brinson, White Plains, NY, Clara (James) Nedwards and Eunice Brinson, Bartow; three sons, Otis (Mary) Brinson Jr., Augusta, Eugene (Mary) Brinson, White Plains, and Calvin (Regina) Brinson, Bartow; five grandchildren that she reared as her own, Harvey (Shirley) Jackson, Bartow, Darrell (Betty) Jackson, Wadley, Jackie (Lonzy) Sampson, Hephzibah, Sandra (Ralph) Taylor, Harrison, and Tina Brinson, Virginia Beach, Va.; three sisters, Oreda Jackson, Wrightsville, Trudie Vining, Wadley, and Beulah Moye, Bartow; 35 additional grandchildren; 58 great-grandchildren; and nine great-greatgrandchildren.
Hudson Mortuary was in charge of the arrangements.
Julia Wren Brown
Mrs. Julia Wren Brown died Friday, April 20, 2007, in Birmingham, Ala.
Mrs. Brown was born in Jefferson County and lived most of her life in Wrens.
She was the daughter of John Andrew Wren and Hattie Marion Fleming Wren. She is preceded in death by her husband Grier Weldon Brown Sr.; two sisters, Marian Walden and Maggie Andrena Conn; two brothers, John Henry “Buck” Wren and Fleming Ernest Wren.
She was a lifetime member of the Wrens Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, a member of the Ira Caldwell Circle, John F. Wren Daughters of the American Revolution, Wrens Garden Club and in her last years became a member at the Shepherding Center at Bluff Park United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Ala.
The Rev. Gary Jones, Wrens ARP Church and the Rev. Sally Harmon Brown, NorthPark Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas, will officiate at a memorial service at the Wrens Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church on May 26 at 11 a.m. Visitation with family and friends will be at 10 a.m.
Survivors include her son Grier Weldon Brown, Jr. (Sally) Dallas, Texas; her daughter Elizabeth Brown (Bill) Crotwell, Birmingham, Ala.; five grandchildren, Julie Crotwell (Paul) Davis, Seattle, Wash.; Kimberly Wren Van Rysselberge, Atlanta; James Weldon “Jay” (Tammy) Brown, Charleston, SC; Lisa Katherine Brown (Brian)Ahart, Austin, Texas; Susan Harmon Brown, Dallas, Texas. Nine great grandchildren Kathleen Elizabeth Davis and Caroline Kimberly Davis of Seattle, Wash.; Lauren Anne Van Rysselberge, Atlanta; Jessica Brown, Dallas, Texas; Blake and Brooke Ahart, Austin, Texas; Carolyn, Sarah Katherine and Will Brown, Charleston, SC. Nieces Dollye Wren Ward, Wrens; Mildred John (Jonnie) Ghetti, Hoschton; Frances Hanna Fowler (Sammie), Thomson; and nephews Richard Allen Lawson, Augusta and Walter Andrew Wren (Diane), Covington.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bluff Park United Methodist Church, Shepherding Center, 733 Valley St., Birmingham, AL 35226 or to the Wrens Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 404 King St., Wrens, GA 30833.
Donald Lovejoy
Rev. Donald Lovejoy, 78, of Bartow died Tuesday, April 24, 2007.
Rev. Lovejoy, a native of Rochester, Minn., was a minister in the United Methodist Church for 22 years.
He had lived in Bartow for the past three years.
He served as a minister (Major) in the Salvation Army for 35 years.
He had been a member of Optimist, Kiwanis and had served as president of the Lions Club while in Minnesota.
He was preceded in death by his parents George and Heloise Lovejoy and two brothers, Richard and Leo Lovejoy.
The funeral was April 26 at 11 a.m. at Bartow United Methodist Church with the Revs. Tucker A. Lewis, Ricky Varnell and Ernest Bass officiating.
Burial was April 30 in Hillside cemetery in St. Charles, Minn.
Survivors include his wife, Rev. Ruth Marie Lovejoy; children, Connie (Len) Holt, South Bend, In., Dr. Donald (Lois) Lovejoy, Winona, Mn., Randy (Rene’) Lovejoy, Ben Wheeler, Tx., Andrew (Gretchen) Lovejoy, Spring Valley, Mn., Lori (Rev. Tucker) Lewis, Wrightsville; brother, Earl Lovejoy, Amery, Wis.; sister, Dorothy Plunkett, LaMesa, Calif.; 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Pallbearers were Chip Evans, Jay Smith, Mitch Smith, Ken Smith, Mark Boyd, Scott Lovejoy, Gregory Lovejoy, T.J. Lewis and Dwayne Morris.
Honorary pallbearers were Wesley New, Wiley Evans III, Wynder Smith, Charles Smith, Don Hodges, Billy Anderson, Buddy Williamson, Colon Gordy and Hubert Jordan.
Memorials may be made to Bartow United Methodist Church, Parkers Chapel United Methodist Church, Moxley United Methodist Church or New Hope United Methodist Church.
Smith Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.
Lee Oliphant Jr.
Mr. Lee Oliphant Jr., 76, of Maywood, Ill., died Wednesday, April 25, 2007.
Mr. Oliphant, a native of Jefferson County, was a member of Wrens Chapel AME Church.
The funeral was May 2 at 2: 30 p.m. at Wrens Chapel AME Church with the Rev. Samuel Thompkins officiating.
Burial was at Sugar Hill cemetery in Wrens.
Survivors include a devoted friend, Ms. Freddie Sampson, Maywood; four sons, Herman King, Wrens, Allen James Oliphant, Donald Oliphant and Jesse Oliphant, Fla.; one sister, Ada Dorcelus, Augusta; three brothers, Alex Oliphant and George Oliphant, Augusta, and Willie James Oliphant, Sherman, Texas; and several grandchildren.
Williams Funeral Home, Hephzibah, was in charge of the arrangements.
Jack N. Rabun
Captain Jack N. Rabun, USMC (Ret.), of Louisville died Saturday, April 28, 2007.
Mr. Rabun retired from the United States Marine Corp after 23 years of service.
He was a businessman and owner of Wedin International, Inc., in Cadillac, Mi., and Hi-Tech Power Systems in both Augusta and North Augusta.
The funeral, with full military honors, was May 1 at 11 a.m. at Louisville First Baptist Church with the Rev. Jerry Cofer officiating.
Burial was in Hillcrest Cemetery.
Survivors include his wife, Ann Davis Rabun; two sons, Jack N. (Marie) Rabun, Cadillac, Mi., and Brian (Chasity) Rabun, Martinez; two daughters, Vickie (Ronnie) Templeton, Louisville, and Beverly (Jerry) Whiteside, Hephzibah; six grandchildren, Jack Neal Rabun III and Teresa Rabun, Cadillac, Mi., Kristi (Clint) Flowers, Wrens, Nelson Dupre Sassard IV, Louisville, Peyton and Pressley Rabun, Martinez; and three brothers and three sisters.
Southern Heritage Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.
