Time heals after Winecoff fire
But the blaze remains a vivid memory for Richard Hamil.
Turner Eugene McGinnis Jr.
Turner Eugene “Buster” McGinnis, Jr. age 79, of Rome passed away Monday December 5, 2016.
Buster was born December 11, 1936, in Floyd County, a son of the late Turner Eugene McGinnis, Sr. and Velma Parris McGinnis. He was retired from General Electric after 29 years of service. Buster loved to travel, and was a member of the American Legion, and was of the Baptist Faith. He was a veteran of the United States Navy. Buster was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Nichols McGinnis, son, Tracy Eugene McGinnis, Sr. sister, Betty Holland.
Survivors include sons, Johnny (Tammie) McGinnis, Rome; Jody (Aimee) McGinnis, Rome; Jason McGinnis, Rome; brother, Ronnie (Sherri) McGinnis, Attalla, Al; grandchildren, Tracy McGinnis, Jr. Cody McGinnis, Derrick Buck, Kaleb Buck, special friend, Barbara Cambron, several nieces and nephews also survive.
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 P.M. Thursday December 8, 2016at Good Shepherd Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. Roger Parris, and Chaplin Sunny Stallings, officiating. Interment will follow in Oaknoll Memorial Gardens, with Shanklin-Attaway Post Five Honor Guard will conduct full military graveside rites. The family will receive friends from 11:00 AM until the hour of the service on Thursday, at Good Shepherd Funeral Home, 2750 Shorter Ave. Rome, Ga. 30165.
Pallbearers include the following gentlemen, Tracy McGinnis, Cody McGinnis, Derrick Buck, Kaleb Buck, Joey Nichols, and Doug Tolbert.
Please visit our website www.goodshepherdfh.net to sign the online guest book and view the DVD on Buster’s life.
Parnick Jennings, Sr.’s Good Shepherd Funeral Home has charge of arrangements. SOUTH CHAPEL
Patricia Forbes Maxwell
Mrs. Patricia Forbes “Pat” Maxwell, age 79, of Lindale, passed away Monday, December 5, 2016, at her residence.
Mrs. Maxwell was born in Johnson City, TN on May 11, 1937, daughter of the late Howard Lonnie “Doc” Forbes and the late Ruby Gallimore Forbes. Prior to her retirement, she was employed with the State of Georgia at the Coosa Valley Mental Health Center for a number of years. She was of the Christian faith.
Survivors include her husband, Wayne Maxwell, Lindale; a daughter, Laura Hyder Wyatt, and her husband, Doug, Tampa, FL; a son, Tony Hyder, and his wife, Michille, Cave Spring; 5 grandchildren, Jordan Wyatt, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Emily Page, and her husband, Rob, Tampa, FL, Allison Wyatt, Jacksonville, Patricia Forbes Maxwell
Mr. Ronald E. Hobgood, Sr., age 69, of Rome, passed away on, Monday, December 5, 2016.
Funeral Services will be held at, 11:00 AM, Friday, December 9, 2016, at Rome Baptist Temple with Rev. Mack Locklear officiating. Interment will follow in the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia.
The family will receive friends on Thursday, December 8, 2016, from 6:008:00 PM at the funeral home.
A complete obituary will run in Thursday’s edition of the Rome News-Tribune.
Please visit our website at www.salmonfuneralhome. com to post tributes and sign the online guestbook for Mr. Ronald E. Hobgood, Sr.
Salmon Funeral Home and Cremation Services is in charge of the funeral arrangements for Mr. Ronald E. Hobgood, Sr. THURSDAY
will meet Thursday at 7 p.m. at Redmond Regional Medical Center. Attendees should take the elevators at the outpatient entrance and go to the lower level to Classroom A. For more information call 706936-9021.
The will meet Thursday at noon at the Coosa Country Club, 110 Branham Ave. Rome Area History Museum Executive Director Leigh Barba will present “Scandals of Rome and Floyd County.” For more information contact Peg Arey at 706-3784768.
The
will hold its Christmas party Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Adairsville Inn, 100 S. Main St. Each couple should bring an unwrapped toy for distribution at Swan Lake, as well as a wrapped present for a “Dirty Santa” gift exchange. For more information visit www. armucheeruritan.org.
concert will be held Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Rome City Auditorium, 601 Broad St. The concert will feature the Northwest Georgia Winds, Pepperell High School Choir, Off Constantly and more. All concert tickets are $5 and can be bought at the door. All proceeds will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Rome native Richard Hamil believes that time is a great healer, at least in his case.
He was 9 years old on Dec. 7, 1946, and had gone to the YMCA Hi-Y Youth Assembly in Atlanta with Rome high school students, when fire engulfed the Winecoff Hotel. The blaze killed four of the teenagers from Rome and 115 others.
Charles Wilkes Keith, 15; George William “Billy” Walden, 16; Lamar Brown, 16; and James “Buzz” Slatton, 16, all perished in the fire.
Students Frank Pim, Roger Sumnicht, Charles Gray and Richard Collier survived the inferno.
Hamil, who has lived in Dawsonville for the past 13 years, said he rarely thinks about the tragic fire, except at this time of year. He recalls having nightmares about the fire for a few years after, but time eventually eased his mind.
“Seventy years is a long time, I guess time does end up healing all wounds,” Hamil said.
His father, C.E. Hamil, was a teacher at Rome Boys High School and the advisor for the YMCA group. The boys were all in the Winecoff, while young girls who participated in the event were in a different hotel.
Hamil remembers much of the incident like it was yesterday. Ironically, he doesn’t have a full memory of his rescue.
“We woke up in the wee hours of the morning to the sound of sirens and other confusion,” Hamil said.
FRIDAY
will hold its annual Christmas auction and party Friday at 10:30 a.m. at the home of Caroline Alford, 7 Pine Valley Road. All members are asked to provide three items for auction. For more information call 706-767-3737.
will be held Friday from 9 a.m. to noon in the Judicial Courthouse, 3 Government Plaza, Suite 114. The program helps low-income clients in a range of civil matters, including protective orders, public benefits, housing, consumer issues and school suspensions. For more information call 706-291-5190.
To list an event email RomeNewsTribune@RN-T. com or call 706-290-5252.
He could not smell smoke in his room on the 15th floor, but when his father opened the door to see what was going on, the hallway was filled with smoke.
The building did not have exterior fire escapes and the only interior stairway was wrapped about a central elevator shaft. They quickly determined that was not an option.
“We got out and got confused and ended up in a room with a woman from Mississippi, her name was Jane Wallace,” Hamil said.
He said the woman was getting ready to jump, but his father talked her out of that.
“We got the window open, we were on the back side of the hotel next to the Mortgage Guarantee Building,” Hamil said.
Hamil took a lamp off the desk to shine a light out the window, letting people know they were there.
Hamil said he believes a custodian at the Mortgage Guarantee Building devised a plan to extend a ladder across from the building to the hotel, and cover it with boards so people could crawl across.
“The last thing I remember was somebody yelling ‘grab the ladder,’” he said. “Somebody took me across the ladder. The next thing I know I was on the ground beside the Mortgage Guarantee Building, on the sidewalk, and I was taken to Grady Hospital by a taxi cab.”
Hamil shared that his father was devastated when he learned the four boys had died. His father lived and breathed his teaching.
Hamil attended a program on the fire at Heritage Sandy Springs on Tuesday, and had lunch in the restored Winecoff, which is now a luxury, boutique hotel called the Ellis Hotel. GHC photo
Human Resources coordinator Emily Farmer demonstrates the new LiveHealth Online Kiosk at Georgia Highlands College to senior administrative assistant Lindsay Little.