Jim Nabors, ’60s TV and singing star, dies at 87
Mr. Jerry Edwin Swanson, age 78, of Cedartown, passed away on Friday morning, December 1, 2017.
Mr. Swanson was born on July 17, 1939 in Temple, Georgia the son of the late Floyd Edwin Swanson and the late Opal Pierce Swanson. He was a United States Veteran and he proudly served as a radar operator in the U.S. Air Force.
Prior to his retirement, Mr. Swanson had been employed by Lucent Technologies and retired following 35-plus years of dedicated service as a Senior Communications Technician.
He had been a volunteer firefighter with the Mt. View Volunteer Fire Department for many years.
Mr. Swanson was a avid reader and gardener and he also enjoyed line dancing with his dance partner Marsha.
Mr. Swanson is survived by his son, Gregory Swanson; his daughters, Stephanie Swanson Wood and Bill Wood and Amanda Swanson Wilson; sisters, Linda & Nick Nichols and Velida and Larry Turner; his dance partner and best friend, Marsha Ely; grandchildren, Seenie, Yousef, Jannah, Isaiah, Sandy, Heather and Kristi; great grandson, Alakai and one due on January 3, 2018.
A number of nieces and nephews also survive.
The family received friends on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2, 2017 at the Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home.
Funeral services for Mr. Jerry Edwin Swanson will be conducted on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 3, 2017 at 2 p.m. from the Chapel of the Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home.
Interment followed in the Polk Memory Gardens with military honors being conducted by the Brewster-Cleveland Post 86 Honor Guard.
For personal condolences and to sign the online guestbook, please visit liteseyfh.com.
The Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements for Mr. Jerry Edwin Swanson.
Ms. Patri c i a Ann Wright Townsend, age 63, of Cedartown, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017.
She was born on July 30, 1954 in Charleston, S.C., the daughter of the late Ralph Edward and Gladys Mae Charles Wright, Sr.
Ms. Townsend is survived by her daughters and son-in-law, Stephanie and Jay Morris and Heather and Allan Clay; sisters, Deborah Karnes (John) and Sharon Huth (Tom); sister-in-law, Pat Stratford; grandsons, Zachariah Morris, William Clay and Henry Morris Jr.; four nieces; two nephews; four great-nieces and one great-nephew.
Ms. Townsend is preceded in death by her parents and brother, Ralph Edward Wright Jr.
A memorial service for Ms. Patricia Ann Wright Townsend was held at Friendship Baptist Church on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017 at 4 p.m..
The family received family and friends on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017 prior to the memorial service hour at the church.
The family has respectfully requested that flowers are to be omitted and memorial donations can be made to Gammage Funeral Home in helping with the memorial service cost.
Messages of condolence can be made to the family by signing the online guestbook at gammagefh. com.
The Olin L. Gammage and Sons Funeral handled the arrangements for Ms. Patricia Ann Wright Townsend.
Zemi Rose Wilson, two-monthold infant daughter of Savannah Sewell Wilson and PFC Kevin Wilson, U.S. Army, Fort Carson, formerly of Rockmart, passed away Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Zemi was born Sept. 18, 2017, in Colorado Springs, Colo., and she is survived by her parents Savannah and Kevin Wilson; brother, Zeak Wilson, Colorado Springs; grandparents, Dixie Davis, Monument, Colorado, formerly of Rockmart; Joel Sewell, Powder Springs; Kevin Wilson, Rockmart; and Deidre Kay, Rockmart; great-grandparents: Carolyn White, Rockmart; James and Maggie Sewell, Powder Springs; Caramese Wilson, Rockmart; and Darrell Kay, Rockmart; uncle, Slade Sewell, Monument, Colo., formerly of Rockmart; numerous other aunts, uncles and cousins also survive.
A graveside funeral service was held Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, at 2 p.m. in the New Prospect Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Charles Garrett and Rev. Levi Wyatt officiating.
The family received friends Saturday evening, Dec. 2, at the Alvis Miller and Son Funeral Home.
The Alvis Miller and Son Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements for Little Zemi Rose Wilson.
Mrs. Sylvia Nettie Crook, 89, of Dallas, and formerly of Cave Spring, died Monday morning, Nov. 27, 2017 in a Dallas care facility following a short illness.
The former Sylvia Russell, Mrs. Crook was born in Ellisville, Ala., on April 20, 1928, a daughter of the late Dewey Russell and the late Imo Law Russell.
A member of the Live Oak Baptist Church in Cave Spring for a number of years, Mrs. Crook was employed by West Point Pepperell Manufacturing Company and Greenwood Mills in Lindale prior to her retirement in 1996.
To be near her daughters, Mrs. Crook moved to Dallas, and was employed there by Wal-Mart as a greeter for 12 years.
Besides her parents, Mrs. Crook was preceded in death a daughter, Gloria Jean Hester in 1970, and by her five brothers and two sisters.
Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. Rita Jan Cantrell and her husband Barry, and Mrs. Rhonda Boatwright and her husband Al, all of Dallas. Five grand-children, Seth Shaw, Aaron Shaw, Zachary Boatwright, Chris Boatwright and Carmen B. Helms; two great-grandchildren, Mary Elizabeth Helms and Murphy Helms, and a number of nieces and nephews also survive.
Funeral services for Mrs. Crook were held Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, at 3 p.m. at John House’s Cave Spring Chapel with Rev. Dale Byars officiating.
Interment will follow in the Cave Spring Cemetery.
Pallbearers included Seth Shaw, Aaron Shaw, Zachary Boatwright, Gary Beegle, Jimmy Beegle, Kenneth Beegle, and Jeff Beegle.
The family received friends at the funeral home Saturday prior to the funeral hour.
John House’s Cave Spring Chapel was in charge of the service for Mrs. Sylvia Nettie Crook.
Retired Detective Sergeant William Lavonne Ward, age 68, of Rome, and formerly of Cedartown, passed away on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017.
He was born on Feb. 10, 1949 in Cedartown the son of the late William Wilber Ward and the late Dorothy Carter Ward.
He was a graduate of Cedartown High School and a United States Veteran where he served in the U.S. Air Force during Vietnam. Following his military career, Mr. Ward graduated college and started a long and successful career with the Rome Police Department.
During this time, he served the people of Rome in many areas where he was more than willing to serve and protect. He attained the rank of Detective and retired following thirty five years of dedicated service to the citizens of Floyd County.
Mr. Ward had also started the Law Enforcement Explorers of Floyd County and he served as Chaplin for the Rome P. D. for many years. He was a member of the FOP Lodge in Floyd County.
He was a ordained minister and was pastor at two churches, Harmony Baptist Church and Victory Baptist Church both in Rome. He was a member of the Rolling Hills Baptist Church.
Mr. Lavonne Ward is survived by his loving wife, Peggy S. Ward; his son, Jeremy Ward and Christina ; his daughter, Tina Ward Gentry and Andy; brothers, Danny H. Ward and Kim D. Ward; sisters, Dawn Fortune, Christie Ward and Caitlin Ward; his grandchildren, Joshua, Mikayla, Ian and Kerigan. A number of nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles also survive.
The family of Mr. Ward received friends on Wednesday evening, Nov. 29, 2017 at the Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home.
The Funeral Service for Retired Detective Sargent William Lavvone Ward was conducted on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017 at noon from the Chapel of the Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home with Rev. Todd Brown officiating.
The Rome- Floyd County Law Enforcement Honors Detail stood watch during both the visitation and the funeral service. Interment followed in the North View Cemetery with military honors being conducted by the Brewster-Cleveland Post 86 Honor Guard.
The following gentlemen served as pallbearers: Josh Gentry, Steve Fortune, Lee Fortune, Derrick Ward, Joe Costornik and Cody Humprey.
Honorary Pallbearers were the Rome City Police Department Honor Guard.
For personal condolences and to sign the online guestbook, please visit liteseyfh.com.
The Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements for Retired Detective Sargent William Lavonne Ward.
OBITUARIES
NEW YORK — Jim Nabors made good on his last name when he brought Gomer Pyle to “The Andy Griffith Show.” His bighearted, ever- cheery gas- pump jockey was a neighborly fit in the easygoing town of Mayberry.
But when Gomer enlisted in the Marines for five TV seasons, he truly blossomed. So did the actor who portrayed him.
Nabors, who died at age 87, made Pvt. Gomer Pyle a perfect foil for the immovable object of Marines boot camp: Grinning, gentle Gomer was the irresistible force.
O n “G o mer P y l e , U.S.M.C.,” a spinoff from “The Andy Griffith Show” that premiered in 1964, Gomer arrived in the fictional Camp Henderson with a happy attitude and eager innocence that flew in the face of everything he found awaiting him there, especially irascible Sgt. Vince Carter, played by Frank Sutton.
It’s a measure of Nabors’ skill in inhabiting the anything-but-militaristic Gomer that this character was widely beloved, and the show a Top 10 hit, during an era when the Vietnam War was dividing America. His trademark “Shazam,” ‘’Gollllll-lee,” and “Surprise, surprise, surprise” were parroted by millions.
But Nabors had another character to offer his fans: himself, a booming baritone. In appearances on TV variety programs, he stunned viewers with the contrast between his twangy, homespun humor and his full-throated vocals.
An authentic smalltown Southern boy, he was born James Thurston Nabors in Sylacauga, Alabama, in 1930, the son of a police officer. Boyhood attacks of asthma required long periods of rest, during which he learned to entertain his playmates with vocal tricks.
After graduating from the University of Alabama, he worked in New York City for a time, and later, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was an assistant film editor and occasional singer at a TV station.
He moved on to Hollywood with hopes of using his voice. Nabors soon landed a guest shot on Griffith’s sitcom as Gomer Pyle. That grew into a regular role as Gomer proved a kindred spirit with other Mayberry locals. By then, he had proved he was also a kindred spirit with millions of viewers.