PREA holds memorial service, honors members who passed in recent years
The Polk Retired Educators Association held a memorial service in recent weeks to honor those members of the organization who passed in the four year period between 2014 and 2018.
Members gathered at Cedartown First United Methodist Church’s parking lot for a somber ceremony on April 7 to honor 42 educators who died in past years, and to add their names to the newly completed brick Memorial Wall.
A statement about the service from PREA added that those who died between 2003 and 2013 weren’t yet added to the Memorial Wall, but those names will be included in forthcoming work to be completed before year’s end.
Inductees on the Memorial Wall between 2014 and 2018 include: Jenna Lee Cummings, William F. “Bill” Cummings, Fay Earnest Elliott, Zell R. Hemphill, Beth Hogg Hindmon, Melba Jones, Mary Helene Layman, David Franklin Roberts, William “Bill” Henry Supon Jr., Sara “Sis” Frances Veatch, Wilma Williams, Alan B. Gifford, Johnny Paul Jay, Edward “Ed” Albert Pharo, Alice W. Rodgers, John Casey Thomas, James “Jimmy” Dewey Williams, Ruth Rampley Colbert, Karla Brumbelow Gladden, Charles W. Orr Jr., Brenda Joyce Richardson, John Ira Stone, Eula Watson, T.A. Willingham Jr., Jane Allison Dempsey, Odete Parucci Estes, Corey Wayne Godfrey, Alva Milledge Holstein, Earlie Payne, Billy “Bill” Gene Powell, Eddie Starnes, Carol Ann Greenway Thornton, Lula Ethel Tolleson, Wilna Field Williams, Faye Peacock Wolfe, James “Jim” George Marshall Boggs, Sharon “Sherry” Denise Howe, William Jenkins, Tanya Leigh Sharpe, Jonathan David Snipes, Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Cash Stone and Dara Mavis Jackson Yates.
President Andrea Sorrells, and former President Lynda Rutland encouraged those who attended to fill out cards that would help with keeping the PREA up to date with Retirees, as well as enabling the Association to continue placing the plaques on the Wall.
Family members and friends of the deceased came up to the front of the Memorial Wall to receive a memorial token. PREA additionally honored former educators with placement of pink carnations next to their names.
A reception after the April 7 event was also held to celebrate the lives of educators past, and family members who keep their memories and spirits alive.
For more information, concerning the Polk Retired Educators Association (PREA) or the Memorial Wall, please contact any of the Memorial Committee Members mentioned: Rick Brown, Lynda/Guy Rutland, Sharon Malone, Andrea Sorrells, Marian Williams, Brenda Elkins, or Jeanette Sawyer.