INGRAM, Buell Vernon
Mr. Buell Ingram, age 97 of Rockmart, passed away Wednesday , February 10, 2021.
He was born March 17, 1923 in Rockmart, son of the late William D. Ingram and the late Blonnie King Ingram. A 1947 graduate of Rockmart High School, he served in the United States Navy during WWII on the U.S.S. WASP. He was an attorney and a member of the Georgia Bar. His lifelong career was with General Motors in Doraville, GA. He had been a member of the American Legion Brown-Wright Post #12 since 1946. In 1949, he joined the Rockmart Masonic Lodge #97, becoming a Master Mason on April 6, 1950 and a 70-year Mason on June 6, 2020. He was a member of Piedmont Avenue Baptist Church in Rockmart.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, whom he married in 1954, Mrs. Genevieve Gates Ingram on February 17, 2001; a son, Glenn Ingram; a son-in-law, Larry Pruitte; and siblings, Gertrude Ingram, Raymond Ingram, Forrest Ingram, Velma “Dot” Hastings, Reece Ingram, David Donald Ingram, Margie Sloan and Harold Ingram.
He was survived by four children, Susan Pruitte, Cindy Sproull (Kirt), Sam Ingram, and Becky Hall; a sister, Ann Hutcheson; five grandchildren, Brandon Ingram, Dae Brumbelow (Joseph), Bridget Hall, Rena Drummond (Dennis), and Tara Bailey (Jake); seven great-grandchildren, Benji Drummond, Joeby Brumbelow, Dylan Hall, Mary Grace “Smiley Joy” Drummond, Maylin Bailey, Brinley Brumbelow, and Blaize Bailey; and numerous nieces and nephews.
“Mr. Buell Ingram, or “Pop Bull” as his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren called him, was special. He was the best gardener in the world. He grew the finest tomatoes and shared them with many others. Each year Susan made him promise her that she would get his first “real” tomato. His grape orchard at his farm in Antioch was the best. He loved his farm, which was often referred to as “God’s Country” and his lake where many fishermen spent some of their happiest moments catching until dark. He and Sam traveled to many cattle auctions and Dae, Rena, Bridget, and Tara loved those baby cows growing up in their childhood. “Pop Bull” loved to visit Cave Spring to fill his jugs with the best water and talk to those who gathered there. The last visit in the late summer of 2018, Susan, Rena, Benji, and Mary Grace filled 58 gallons of water for him as he sat on the bench supervising. His great-grandchildren were his world. He was devastated when Maylin had liver cancer and rejoiced when she received a transplant at six months. Blaize shares his St. Patrick’s Day birthday. He loved hearing about Benji’s football games, Mary Grace’s basketball games, Joeby’s wrestling matches and baseball games, and Brinley’s softball games. He told them to always put Jesus first and was so blessed to witness Benji, Mary Grace, and Joeby accept the Lord and be baptized. He appointed Mary Grace, whom he called “Smiley Joy,” at birth to always be his nurse. On Wednesday, February 10th he went to see Jesus in what was a great “going to Heaven celebration.” “Pop Bull” will be missed by all who knew and loved him.”
Funeral services were conducted Sunday, February 14, 2021 at 2:00 P.M. from the chapel of the Freeman Harris
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Funeral Home with Rev. Joey Davidson officiating. Interment followed in Rose Hill Cemetery with Military Honors provided by the American Legion Brown-Wright Post #12 Honor Guard.
Pallbearers: Steve Arrington, Jeff Austin, Jake Bailey, Joeby Brumbelow, Joseph Brumbelow, Chad Carlton, Benji Drummond, Dr. Dennis Drummond, Eddie Goss, Rick Hastings, Chris Ingram, Don Payne and Tony Waits.
Honorary pallbearers were members of the Rockmart Masonic Lodge #97.
Freeman Harris Funeral Home in charge of the services for Mr. Buell Ingram.
SMILE BECAUSE HE LIVED
You can shed tears that he is gone, or you can smile because he lived. You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back, or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left. Your heart can be empty because you can’t see him, or you can be full of the love that you shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember him and only that he is gone, or you can cherish his memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn back, or you can do what he would want: Smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
— Author Unknown
REMEMBER ME Remember me in quiet days, while raindrops whisper on your pane. But in your memories have no grief, let just the joy we knew remain. Remember me when evening stars look down on you with steadfast eyes. Remember if once you wake to catch a glimpse of red sunrise. And when your thoughts do turn to me, know that I would not have you cry. But live for me and laugh for me, when you are happy, so am I. Remember an old joke we shared; remember me when spring walks by. Think once of me when you are glad, and while you live, I shall not die.
— Author Unknown
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”
— John Lennon
I AM NOT THERE
Do not stand by my grave and weep, for I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am diamonds that glint on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning hush I am the swift uplifting rush of butterflies in joyous flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.
— Author Unknown
“Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen ... yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.”
— Bradley Whitford
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.”
— Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
A bill aimed at preventing city and county governments from making deep cuts in the budgets of their local police agencies advanced in the Georgia House of Representatives last week.
Sponsored by state Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, the bill would limit local governments from reducing funds for police by more than 5% over a 10-year span. It includes exemptions for smaller jurisdictions and for spending on equipment purchases.
Gaines highlighted recent failed attempts by some Athens and Atlanta elected officials to slice millions of dollars from their police budgets amid protests over police brutality and racial injustice that swept across Georgia and the country last summer.
“These efforts are underway in our state and certainly something I think we need to fight against,” Gaines said. “We all recognize that supporting law enforcement is of the utmost importance and, in my opinion, the most important role that our local governments have.”
Northwest Georgia Republican Reps. Trey Kelley of Cedartown and Katie Dempsey of Rome are the first and second cosponsors.
Gaines’ bill cleared the House Governmental Affairs General Government Subcommittee on a partyline vote. It heads to the full committee for another vote before potentially moving to the House floor.
The bill comes after last summer’s protests following high-profile killings of Black men by police officers, including the deaths of George Floyd in Minnesota and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.
Property destruction and violence at some of those protests sparked a backlash from conservative leaders over a push by some progressive officials to curb police funding, dubbed “defund the police.” The subject took center stage as an issue for both political parties in the 2020 election cycle.
Opposition to the bill came Tuesday from the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, which represent city and county governments. Decisions on police funding should be left to local officials, said Todd Edwards, ACCG’s deputy legislative director.
“Police power is one of our inherent or supplemental powers under the constitution,” Edwards said. “We’d like to maintain our flexibility to fund and manage police forces how our local elected officials – those accountable to the public – feel is the best use of taxpayer dollars.”