Historical society celebrates Greer’s 90th birthday
On Feb. 16, the Polk County Historical Society hosted a much-anticipated event: nonagenarian Millard Greer’s birthday. For three years we’ve been ostensibly discussing the proposed celebration and it finally came to fruition last month with an attendance of more than 50 family members and friends.
Millard’s wife of 65 years, Charlotte, lovingly planned the refreshments and décor, handling all the particulars with ease and enthusiasm. In addition to commemorating Millard’s birthday, another of our dedicated members also had a birthday the same week. Larry Alexander, a very talented artist and 1959 Cedartown High School graduate, observed his 82nd year on this earth.
The Polk County Historical Society has often collected written and oral interviews from elders, and Arleigh Ordoyne, director of the PCHS Museum, talked with Millard leading up to the event with the intention of publishing a short biography of Millard’s life, highlighting discussions like those frequently exchanged on Thursday afternoons at the historical society.
Many people from Polk County know Millard Greer from Greer Auto Parts or various clubs and organizations as he has been actively involved in our community for more than seven decades. His take on a successful life: “Success means different things to different people, but you have to be satisfied with who you are inside.”
Born on Feb. 17, 1933, in Birmingham, Alabama, George Millard Greer Jr. is the son of George Millard Greer Sr. and Nell Tyler Nation, who were married in 1926. Millard and his family spent the early years of his childhood living in Birmingham and later moved back to Cedartown, where Nell Greer had lived before her second marriage.
Millard’s mother operated a bakery in Cedartown, which was sold to the Saxon Brothers in the late 1920s, and his father was the longtime owner of Greer Auto Supply — a business that was open on Main Street for four decades. He had an older brother, Barney Edward Nation, whose father had been killed in a train accident before Millard was born, and a younger sister, Sara Frances Greer Wilkes, who is still living.
Millard went by his middle name and was sometimes called “Little Millard”. He recalls that his family did not have television until 1947 or 1948, and the first movie he saw was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” at a theater in Birmingham. He later patronized the Cedar Theater, which was located on Main Street where the park is now situated at Ware Street.
He did not earn an allowance but remembers that his father always gave him pocket money and his mother made a cake for his birthday each year. Millard’s first job was working for his uncle delivering laundry for Modern Cleaners. He opened an account with Mr. Trawick at Commercial National Bank when he was 11 years old.
Millard Greer Sr., a WWI veteran, was drafted in May 1918 and sailed to France, engaging in the Meuse-Argonne offensive (Battle of Argonne Forest), of which resulted in nearly 300,000 total casualties. Wounded in action, Millard Greer Sr. spent time in several hospitals and returned to the states in 1919.
Millard Greer Jr. pieced these facts together later in life, noting on a Veterans Day Facebook post: “My favorite veteran is my late father. He served in World War I WIA the night of November 10, 1918. Like most combat vets he was reluctant to speak of his experiences, so I knew very little of his service until about 10 years after his death. With the help of many others, I was lucky enough to assemble a good history of his military service. During this search I discovered a father I had not known.”
Millard Greer Jr. himself served in the U.S. Army, enlisting in 1955 as a cryptographer after his sophomore year at Georgia Tech. He was stationed in Japan and ended his service in 1957, returning to Cedartown. He married Charlotte Norris in November of 1957 and they have two sons.
Of his successful and happy marriage he said, “I didn’t realize at the time what it meant to be married, but you grow into it.” No one who sees this couple together and hears Millard repeatedly call Charlotte “my bride” would doubt their long-standing devotion.
The very first time Arleigh met Millard was shortly after she began her position as Museum Director with the Polk County Historical Society in January 2019. He extended his hand and asked, “Who are your parents?” — his signature introduction.
After reopening the museum in June 2020 during covid, Millard and Charlotte made a habit of visiting the museum, which was something of a “safe” place during the pandemic, being restricted to 10 occupants at a time and having mask requirements. This practice inadvertently began a historically-minded gathering of Polk County Historical Society members which we have dubbed the Thursday Club.
In 2023 we regularly host one to two dozen regulars who have become fast friends — some traveling from Cobb and Paulding counties every week to be a part of the group. One of the questions posed to Millard during our oral interview was, “What is one of the most important things in life?”, to which he answered, “Friendship. Life is precious and short.”
And as for aging, Millard’s philosophy is this: “It’s scary. It comes on fast. When you’re young you don’t think you’ll ever get old.” Those of us at the Thursday Club will recall that his repeated words are actually, “Getting old is hell!” We hope to celebrate many more birthdays with Millard, and to continue reminiscing at the Historical Society each week.