Holocaust survivor speaks to students

from A7

Mr. Herman Charles Morgan, age 88, of Cedartown, passed away Sunday morning, Jan. 14, 2018 following an extended illness.

Mr. Morgan was born on Sept. 15, 1929 in Cave Spring, the son of the late Clarence Morgan and the late Lucille Norton Morgan.

In addition to his parents, he was also preceded in death by brothers, Horace Morgan, Russell Morgan and Harvey Morgan; a sister, Carolyn McKinney and his wife, Sara Carr Morgan. Mr. Morgan was a retired truck driver where he had been employed and drove for Carriage Transport for many years.

Mr. Morgan is survived by his sons, Wayne Morgan and Betty, Bobby Morgan and Janice and Randy Morgan; brothers; Robert Morgan and Jack Morgan; grandchildren, Jessica Capossela, Kelley Cromer, Bonnie Heuer, Christopher Morgan, Bryn Morgan and Derrick Morgan and eight great grandchildren. A number of nieces, nephews and other relatives also survive.

The family received friends on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 21, 2018 at the Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home.

In keeping with his wishes, Mr. Morgan was cremated.

In lieu of flowers the family request that donations be made to the charity of ones choice in Memory of Mr. Morgan.

For personal condolences and to sigh the online guestbook, please visit our website at liteseyfh.com.

The Lester C. Litesey Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements for Mr. Herman Charles Morgan.

Mrs. Doris Ann Potts Floyd, age 83 of Cedartown, passed away Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018.

Mrs. Floyd was born June 5, 1934 in Calhoun County, Ala, daughter of the late William Henry Potts and the late Ola Melissa Anthony Potts.

She was a graduate of Rockmart High School and a member of County Line Baptist Church. Mrs. Floyd retired from the Goodyear Tire Company with 30 years of service. She enjoyed cooking and loved to have family gatherings.

She was preceded in death by her husband Daniel “Danny” Edd Floyd; son, Gary Floyd; brother, Virgil Potts; and sister, Jennell Crook.

Survivors included her son, Keith Floyd and his wife Terri of Piedmont, Ala.; two daughters, Kayron Holbrooks and her husband Randy of Cedartown, and Ann Galloway and her husband Gary of Albertville, Ala.; brother, Howard Potts of Pensacola, Fla.; 24 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild also survived.

Funeral services for Mrs. Floyd were held on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 at 2 p.m. at County Line Baptist Church with Rev. Steve Thomas officiating.

Interment services followed in the family lot of the church cemetery.

The following gentlemen served as pallbearers: Jerid Morsico, Shane Thornton, Colby Jones, Jasen Floyd, Aaron Holbrooks and Cain Holbrooks.

Honorary pallbearers were Gary Galloway and Randy Holbrooks.

Please visit www.freemanharrisfunerals.com to extend personal condolences to the family by signing the online guestbook.

Freeman Harris Funeral Home was in charge of the funeral services for Mrs. Doris Ann Potts Floyd.

Mr. Roy Taylor Miller originally of Avon, Ohio and for the past 42 years a resident or Rockmart, died on Jan. 13, 2018.

He was born March 13, 1954 to Cora and Royal Miller.

At age 18, he moved to Mount Vernon to attend Brewton Parker College with a music scholarship. There, he met Deborah Pam Butler at Choir Week and was smitten.

He and the love of his life married on June 7, 1974 in Marietta, and moved to Rockmart in 1976 where Roy dabbled and spread his expertise from everything to working at the Goodyear Mill to owning a stereo and frame shop to being a jeweler at Smith and Lockwood Pharmacy to starting his own supply business, Eagle Supply.

His final position was as a real estate “mogul.” His three children, Erin, Katy and Ryan filled his life with laughter, a little stress, car issues, and college loans, but he loved them well and without condition.

He counted his son in law, Clive Miles and sister in law Sandra Sheppard as close as birth family. His countless friends, and even a few enemies, added so much excitement and care to his life.

Funeral services were held Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018 at 4 p.m. in the First Baptist Church of Cedartown with Dr. David Taylor officiating.

The family received friends Wednesday, Jan. 17 prior the service hour at the First Baptist Church of Cedartown.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests those who loved Mr. Miller practice intentional acts of kindness, such as: taking a box of donuts to a group of teachers, buying a meal and having a conversation with someone who is experiencing homelessness, sending a college student $50 for pizza, thanking and connecting with a veteran, visiting someone in the hospital, inviting your neighbors over for dinner, singing Happy Birthday in a booming voice to someone who’s celebrating, or seeking out a stranger to share a joke and a beverage.

Mr. Miller loved his life, and celebrated it to the fullest. To paraphrase Thoreau, he “lived deep and sucked all the marrow out of life.”

The Alvis Miller and Son Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements for the funeral service of Mr. Roy Taylor Miller.

Mr. Bobby Joe Beaird, 90, of Cave Spring, died Sunday morning, Jan. 14, 2018, at the residence following an extended illness.

Mr. Beaird was born in Wetumpka, Ala., on March 13, 1927, a son of the late James Monroe Beaird and the late Nellie Bass Beaird.

He was raised on the family farm in Titus, Ala., working there and at the family’s country store. Called to duty during World War II, Mr. Beaird served as a mechanic and an Military Policeman in the U. S. Army Air Corps, and was called back to the U. S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict.

He was married to the former Catherine Elizabeth Carnes on June 4, 1953, and was preceded in death by her Dec. 23, 2007.

After they married, Mr. and Mrs. Beaird lived in Montgomery for a short time prior to moving to Cave Spring where they raised their family.

Mr. Beaird ran the Cave Spring Freezer Locker for over 20 years, then the B. J. Beaird and Son Service Station, and later B. J.’s Clothing Store, which became the Red Wagon, until his retirement.

Mr. Beaird served Cave Spring in many capacities during the years, as a volunteer firefighter, as a member of the city council, and at the time of this death, was a member of the Rolater Park Committee.

He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Cave Spring for many years, and together he and his wife were active members in the Wild Life Club and the Cave Spring Springers Square Dance Club.

Mr. Beaird is survived by his children, Johnny Beaird and his wife Kitty, and Mrs. LeAnn Watson and her husband Stan, all of Cave Spring. His sister, Mrs. Sarah B. Matthews and her husband Bill of Titus, Ala.; four grandsons, Capt. Jeremy Watson and his wife Anna, Dent Watson, Ethan Beaird and Nathan Dover; two great-grandchildren Lilly and Jeremiah Watson and several other family members also survive.

Funeral services for Mr. Beaird were held Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, at 2 p. m. at John House’s Cave Spring Chapel with Rev. Rodney Willingham and Capt. Jeremy Watson officiating.

Interment followed in the Cave Spring Cemetery, and pallbearers included Nathan Dover, Capt. Jeremy Watson, Ethan Beaird, Dent Watson, Josh Matthews, and Will Matthews.

An honorary escort included Chet and Mark Matthews.

The family received friends at the funeral home Monday evening, Jan. 15, 2018 and at other hours were at their respective homes.

John House’s Cave Spring Chapel was in charge of the arrangements for Mr. Bobby Joe Beaird.

Mr. William “Floyd” Truett, age 82, of Columbus, passed away Friday, Jan. 12, 2018.

He was born in Borden Springs, Ala., on July 17, 1935, son of the late Robert Hamilton Truett and Marion Elizabeth Collins Truett.

While growing up in Cedartown, Mr. Truett and his family lived on Jackson Street and he attended Third Street School.

Floyd was baptized at the age of 17 by Rev. Buddy York and became a member of Second Baptist Church in Cedartown. He then joined the U. S. Navy where he served the country for 20 years.

While in the Navy, he found the love of his life, Ms. Sara Gilley, whom he married in 1958. After retiring from the Navy, Floyd worked with Lysol National Laboratory and retired in Columbus.

In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his loving wife of 58 years, Sara Truett; brother William Truett; sisters: Betty Clarke, Jean Nettles and Shirley Vines.

Survivors include his son and daughter-in-law Robert “Bobby” and Penny Truett; sisters: Diann Brown and husband James, Pasty Causey and Carolyn Wood; 3 grandchildren; 13 great grandchildren; brother in law: Pierce Nettles; several cousins, nieces and nephews also survive.

A service to remember Mr. Truett’s life was held Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018 at 3 p.m. in the chapel of Smith and Miller Funeral Home with Mr. Ricky Vines and Mr. Allen Spence delivering the eulogies.

The family received friends Sunday afternoon, Jan. 21 prior to the service hour at the funeral home.

The Smith and Miller Funeral Home of Cedartown is honored to serve the family of Mr. William “Floyd” Truett.

Mr. Timothy “Timmy” Samuel Priest, age 59, of Rockmart passed away Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018.

Mr. Priest was born in Smyrna, on Oct. 24, 1958, the son of the late George Priest and the late Geneva Mullins Priest.

Mr. Priest was an automobile mechanic.

Survivors include one daughter and son-in-law, Kristy and Nathan Swanson of Rockmart; one son and daughter-in-law, Randy and Lesha Priest of Rockmart; six grandchildren, Cole Priest, Ava Priest, Kassidy Swanson, Presley Swanson, Trent Swanson and Ryder Swanson; and a number of other relatives.

Funeral services were conducted Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018 at 2 p.m. from Hutcheson’s Memorial Chapel with Danny Hutcheson officiating.

The family received friends at the funeral home Tuesday evening, Jan. 16, 2018.

Post an on-line condolence at www.hutchesonsmemorialchapel. com

Hutcheson’s Memorial Chapel and Crematory of Buchanan is in charge of the arrangements.

As a 77-year-old, Hershel Greenblat is one of the youngest remaining Holocaust survivors, at a time when others who bore witness to the systematic persecution and murder by the Nazis are becoming scarcer.

“You are my advocates,” Greenblat told West End Elementary students packed into the gym Friday. “You are my speakers.”

A black and white picture was projected onto a screen, as Greenblat pointed out his father standing with 14 of his family members.

“Naked, they would shove them into a room about as big as this gym,” he told of the fates of all of those in the picture except for his father.

The door would be opened when the screams had stopped, and those inside who had just been gassed would be thrown into the ovens at Majdanek concentration camp, outside the Polish city of Lublin, to burn.

After the Nazis had conquered Poland in September 1939, the Jews who hadn’t been targeted and killed were put in ghettos surrounded by electric barbed wire fences. Greenblat’s father, then a 19-year-old, and his family were among those kept in captivity through the enforcement of “vicious dogs and even more vicious guards,” he said.

But his father decided to fight back, and he escaped the ghetto with friends. They hid in attics, basements and sewers, Greenblat said, to “try to give resistance to one of the greatest armies in history.”

Upon finding the Nazis were looking for him, Greenblat’s father decided to escape, knowing capture meant death. He went over the border into Ukraine, joining up with another resistance group. Greenblat’s mother was part of this group, which was forced into hiding in underground caves, only coming out at night to gather supplies or fight against Russian police.

The two fell in love. And by 1941, Greenblat was born, spending the first year and a half of his life inside a cave fighting illness. After his mother was injured by shrapnel from an exploding vehicle, the three of them left the resistance and went over 500 miles south, deeper into Ukraine. They destroyed all of their IDs, becoming nonentities, Greenblat said, and hid out in woods, attics and basements.

“This is what happened to 6 million Jews because they were hated,” Greenblat said of the Holocaust, which also led to the murder of much of his mother’s family at the hands of Hitler’s “killing machines.”

In two box cars driven by a train engine, his family crammed in with 180 other survivors in making the 1,800-mile journey to a DP — displaced persons — camp in Austria, set up by the Allied powers. As a 5-year-old, Greenblat weighed less than 25 pounds when U.S. Army nurses, looking “like angels” in their white uniforms, took him and the others into their care.

After years of living in camps and being denied from going to Israel, Greenblat’s family was permitted to come to America in the fall of 1950, under The Displaced Persons Act of 1948. His family settled in Atlanta, where his father opened a grocery store in Buttermilk Bottom, where he “paid it forward” in feeding, clothing and providing opportunities to those in the black neighborhood, Greenblat said.

One day a man came in and asked Greenblat’s father about his story, and, likewise, he asked about his. It was the beginning of a friendship between his father and Martin Luther King Jr.

“The world depends on young people to remember and not to let it happen again,” Greenblat finished.