James Caudell, R.I.P

Our long time friend James Caudell died today.

Jack Royal, R.I.P.

James Caudell called and said our friend Jack Royal died today.  I don't know the details.

As teenagers we used to have some good times.

pictured is Jack and his wife Joy Lewis at the Strand Theater attending  a tribute concert to his brother Billy Joe.

I did not think he looked well.That was the first time in many years I saw Jack and the last. 

Roy Faulkner died

Roy Faulkner, the man who is credited with carving  Stone Mountain, has died at age 84.

Arnold Parrish Left Us.

Arnold and Joe Tucker

Howard Burnette and Arnold

I hated to hear about Arnold Parrish dying.  I have known Arnold and his family all my life.  His family and my family lived close together in the Clay Homes.

We always chatted at the Bell and Varner Reunion and wherever else we would run into each other.  I ran into him a lot at Kennestone Hospital where he was a volunteer.   I was always amazed how young he looked.  He looked and acted that someone much younger than he was.

The last time I saw him was about two or three months ago at Johnboys.  We kept looking at each other.  I was trying to decide if it was Arnold and I think he was doing the same.  Finally he said, "Eddie, how is Frances (my sister)?"

I don't think I have ever seen Arnold with scowl or frown on his face.  His facial muscles were not trained that way.

He was such a positive person.  The world is a better place because of him.

Robert Gerald "Jerry" Hunter 1941-1966

Jerry Hunter was born about four months before me.  He lived with his family in Douglasville.  As small kids we sometimes played together as kids.  Honestly, we did not hit it off, we had two different lifestyles.  I was what would I call now a "free range" kid.  I had freedom do wander where I wanted and come back when I wanted (within reason).  Jerry, on the other hand, was raised to ask his parents' permission to leave the yard.

I think that the well-disciplined way of life paid off for him.  He graduated from Douglasville High school with honors and also graduated from Citadel Military College in Charleston as an military officer and a pilot.

He gave his life in the Viet Nam War.  He was shot down .

From the magazine LOOKING GOOD DOUGLAS COUNTY, Vol 1, Number 3, March/April 1988. Article JERRY HUNTER: he gave his life.  By Vicki Harsbarger.

Jerry Hunter, 25, was about to complete his 34th mission of the Vietnam War.

The two months he had spent in Vietnam had been filled with missions such as this one.  Supply lines were sought, supply lines were bombed.

The F-105 was a one-man jet requiring much expertise of the pilot.  He delivered his bombs directly on the targeted bridge.  The enemy fire hit the plane, he bailed out.  The pilots watched as the parachute disappeared from sight in the trees.

From the ground, a beeper signal was heard by the pilots.  They attempted a rescue, but enemy fire struck from the area of the area where the parachute had landed.  A second plane was hit, and the pilots were forced to return to base.

Two months later, American soldiers were able to search the place where Robert Gerald Hunter went down.  Laos natives took the men to the place where his body was buried.

Jerry began his final journey home to be buried in the town where he was voted most talented of Douglas County High School; where he dreamed of one day attending the Citadel; and where of dream of becoming a pilot began with an essay written on how Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic would affect the future of aviation.

Awards came early for Jerry Hunter.  He was honored with other superlatives at Douglas County High School, with his claim to fame the title of Most Talented.  He was well known for his artistic talents, and worked as editor of the school yearbook.  He starred in the senior play.

"If anything happens to him, he's doing what he wants to do", his wife of one year, Laura Ann Milby, had said of Hunter.  His parents, Robert and Zelma, had suggested that he choose a line of work in keeping with his Citadel degree in business administration, but he would not settle for less than his dreams.

"He wanted to be the best." Zelma Hunter reminisces.  "He always wanted to be a good pilot.  He said if he made a good place for himself in the Air Force he would make a career of it or he would be become a commercial pilot," she said.

The handsome flyer passed all manner of physical tests toprove his fitness of pilot training, which he received at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta following his graduation from the Citadel with honors.  Minor surgery was suffered twice by Hunter in order to fly the F-105, Mrs. Hunter said.

"He didn't want us to worry," Mrs. Hunter says lovingly of her son.  "I'd ask him on the telephone if he'd been shot at, wanting him to say no. He'd say, "Yes, but  they missed.  Don't worry about it, Mom, sometimes it's fun."

During the week while the Hunters awaited the return of Jerry's body, the Chamber of Commerce acting on a motion by Church of Christ Minister Richard Waggoner, passed a resolution recommending that the park be memorably named Hunter Park.

On July 18, 1966, the Hunters' hopes died with the news of their son's death and his returning body.  On July 22, funeral services were held at the Church where Jerry became a Christian, First Baptist Church of Douglasville.  The church was overflowing as the first Douglas County military and 11th Citadel victim of the Vietnam war was laid to rest.

Over 100 flags flew at Douglasville businesses, painstakingly placed there by the remembering hands of the Jaycees.  The town was subdued as businesses closed for the afternoon.

As faces were in unison at Rose Memorial Gardens Cemetery toward the casket containing the remains of Robert Gerald Hunter, the sound of planes roared overhead, urging the mourners to gaze upward.

Four planes flew across the horizon in unison, three planes returned.

This plane is a fixture at Douglasville's Robert Gerald Hunter's Memorial Park

H.A.'s Memorial Date Set

Left to right:  Brothers Harry and Harley A. "H.A." Hansen

There will be a memorial  service for Harley A. Hansen ("H.A.")  at Winkerhofer Funeral Home  on North Cobb Parkway ("the 4-Lane")  in Kennesaw at 1pm, Saturday, May 16, 2015.  Before the service there will be a visitation, which will be  at 12:00 Noon,  just before the memorial.

I told his brother Harry that H.A. was adventurous.  He agreed.  He said "Everybody in Marietta has their own story about H.A."

"And most of them are true."  I added. 

H. A. Hansn's Obituary

This  Obituary was on William's Funeral Home:

Obituary for Harley Hansen

Mr. Harley Anthan Hansen, age 74, passed away on Saturday, May 2, 2015. Funeral services will be private.

Mr. Hansen was preceded in death by his parents, Anthan Benjamin Hansen and Gladys Earline Beck Hansen. He was born in Nelson, GA and lived in Warm Springs, GA before entering the Air Force. Following his service to the United States, Mr. Hansen traveled the world working for Titan Group as a General Contractor. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the American Legion and American Veterans (AM VETS). 

Mr. Hansen is survived by his brothers, Harry Hansen and Bruce Hansen both of Kennesaw, Ga, and Steve Hansen of Canton, Ga; a sister Patricia Earline Cook of Calhoun, Ga; and a number of nieces and nephew.

H.A. Hansen Died This Morning

click on image to enlarge

We had some some times together.  We will miss you H.A.!
(picture above, left, white shirt and arm sling).

Mystic, Divine, or Coincidental?

Mystic, Divine, or Coincidental?

Today the funeral home brought over a lot of flowers from Marie's funeral yesterday. Also they had the paperwork and a DVD of the pictures I supplied but with music.

We decided to make several copies of the DVD for relatives we thought would be interested.
We made the first one and we got the hang of it. Then I put what I thought was another blank disk and the name MEEK came up. Anna is related to the Meeks. We looked at the DVDS and apparently Stan Meek had his parents' old 8mm movies made onto a disk and gave us a copy and I put it away and forgot about it.
Stan's mother Eloise and Marie are sisters. We got to see Marie and Anna's father Paul moving around walking, laughing, and other live things, much younger than the last time we had seen either of them. It was a surprise and emotional to watch, the day after we buried Marie.

Yesterday we carried Marie to the funeral of Dot Croy, her very good friend and confident. 

After the funeral we took her to Johnboys, her favorite restaurant.  Before she had  even tasted her soup she started shivering like she was freezing.  I gave her my coffee to warm her up.  She could not drink it her hands were trembling so bad.  Something was wrong.

We carried her to the ER.

The medical staff said she would die soon.  Thanks to facebook her grandchildren were alerted.  When she died she surrounded by family.  

She died at 11:09.  The nurse said she stopped breathing then.

However the doctor could not get to her examine her vitals until after midnight, so her death is officially noted as dying the next day.

She lived 94 years.  

Larry Foster Moon (1943 - 2015)

Today Larry Foster Moon (1943-2015) died.  May he rest in peace.

Varner Reunion and Deaths

(click on to enlarge)

This random picture at a Varner Reunion has more of a meaning than it appears.  When I took it I meant for it to be  It  a very random picture.   In it are three friends that were to die soon.  Walking away we see the back of  the late Jackie Turner,  in the middle in the maroon shirt is the  late Joel Jackson, and  on the right in the wheelchair is the late Jerry McBee.  

At our age some of the people you see at the upcoming Varner Reunion on Saturday, April 25, 2015, noon, outside, might be the last time you see them.  Hug them!  Or at least shake their hand, or  what about a nod?

Kim Russell Lee Died Today

Our good friend Kim Russell Lee died today.   

Kim and Anna were co-workers.  she had a lot of bad luck with health issues, such as she had to have a kidney transplant.  With all her health issues she was always a positive and sincere person.   

She is the youngest sister of my Marietta  High School mates Gail and Jo Russell.

She left two sons  Anthony and Timothy Lee.

A Senior Moment Explained

Yesterday morning I thought Anna had said, "Jack Nicholson died."  I slapped my town crier hat on and went to work as BLOGMAN! 

First, I found what I thought a fitting picture of Jack Nicholson  to announce his death, in a humorous sort of way and put it on facebook.

Then, as I was looking on Google to say something interesting about Jack I thought it was strange no one had announced his death yet.  Was this a scoop just for me?  Then on THE TODAY SHOW I heard Bla Nichblabla had died.  It went on to say he directed  THE GRADUATE.  I said thought, "He did not!"  It was Mike Nic.....?"  Then it hit me.   Aww Shoot!  I made a mistake and made it public. 

Of course, I was corrected by my  Facebook  friends as I should have been.

 So much for my credibility now.

On the bright side, now that my blog reputation is ruined people will not expect me to  keep up  high standards like correctly spelled words and good English.

Mike Nichols was an excellent director and playwright.  I hate to see him go.

Ivanell Roper's Mother Died

Ivanell Roper's mother, Imogene Adams McGaha died today.  Ivanell's father died just five days ago.  I suppose they have lived t their lives  so long together, in a way,  they have  died together too.   

We wish for the best for  Ivanell, Paul, and their family and other  surviving family members we don't know about.

Keeping Memories o Our Neighbors Alive

I went to my neighbor's funeral yesterday.  She was 89 years old.  Near the end of the service the officiating pastor said he knew that the deceased effected us, as you effected her.  Whatever she did that we were exposed to changed our lives some and whatever we did in her presence change her or altered her life some.  

Maybe he is right, everybody effects everybody that he or she comes in contact with.

He went on to say in the next couple of days think about the deceased some and think of what memories you have of her.

It is like as long as you remember things about her you are keeping her spirit alive.  When you and everybody else quits is when her spirit disappears.  Poof!   I am just speculating that is what he was saying, maybe not.

However,  while sitting there it got me thinking of her and her late husband.  She was sort of a recluse - she stayed in all the time.  And her husband was always out working in the yard.

Which was my problem.  I dreaded to work in the yard because I knew that he would come over and see what I was doing and try to help me when I prefer to work alone, it is my therapy. 

One time he came over with his equipment and wanted to change  headlights on my truck because he said he saw me ride by and a headlight was out.  I  had seen the truck with the light out too,  it wasn't my truck but one that was the same color in the neighborhood.   I showed him the headlights worked and he said that just meant it had a short in them.  I still would not let him look under the hood, he always made things worse.

One time he saw my garbage cans on the side of the street and rolled them down where he thought they belonged.  We were not home so I did not know they were not at the street, so the garbage pickup company  rode on by, I suppose.  I had to carry our garbage to the county dump.  Later he told me he some kids must have rolled my garbage can up by the street but he rolled them back down.  I told him it was garbage pickup day the reason I put them on the street.  I couldn't get mad at him because he thought he was doing me a favor.

I remembered he and my riding lawnmower.  One time I loaded my lawnmower into my pickup truck and was about to take it to a mechanic.  Jim came over and asked me why do that when he can fix it.  I said the battery and the starter were not making a connection.  For about a day he banged on it and told me he fixed it, but now I would have to put a screw driver down to serve as electric conductor from my battery to the starter.... I got shocked several times trying to get the blame thing started after that.

I decided the only way to slip the lawnmower out of the neighborhood without him seeing it was to have my son come over to help me load the lawnmower in the truck on the opposite side of the house  in the evening when I knew my neighbor would be settling down for the evening.   We got the lawnmower on the back of the truck and I backed the truck up in the carport. 

The next morning I drove off with the lawnmower before daylight and left it in a shop to be repaired.  I used the push mower while it was gone.  I don't think my neighbor ever caught on.

Sure Things In Life: Death and Taxes

My friend Ivanell Roper's father died today.  He has been sick a long time, so it was not a surprise.   We hate to see people we care about die, but sometimes I think it is a relief for all concerned.  Death is the natural order of all living things.    

Alice Has Left Us

My beautiful red headed first cousin Alice "Rusty" Hunter Sternagle died today with a brain aneurism.   She will be greatly missed by all that were lucky enough to know her.

Parky Latimer and his brother Jenky's Funeral

Parky Latimer, March 2013 at  the Varner Reunion

Parky Latimer's funeral is today. I remember his brother Jenky Latimer's funeral just about a month over 54 years ago. I was a pallbearer. That was the beginning of Summer 1960. Jenky was killed in a drag race. Larry White was in the car with him. Larry suffered injuries and was in the hospital over a week unconscious. Jenky's burial was at Little River Methodist Church near Woodstock, Georgia. Back in 1960 it was out in the country. Now, the road , or highway, is lined with businesses, with Walmart across the road. 

As I said we were teenagers and acted like teenagers. All of the pallbearers were Jenky's friends., and of course, friends with one another. The walk carrying the casket was a good distance and a rolling terrain. I think we had to go down a little slope then up a slope. 

 While we were carrying the casket, we were maybe a good 20 or so feet in front of the walking procession. One of us (not me) let out a loud fart. It was short and loud. Some of us cracked up giggling and trying to hold in our giggling even made it worse. One of us (again, not me) became enraged at the person who farted. But he got over it. It may have been a strange scene, we were distraught over our friends death, which we showed, and giggling at the same time, which we tried to hide.

Years later I ran into Parkie at Chastain Animal Hospital in Smyrna. We had a nice talk. I think the next time I saw him was at the 2013 Varner Reunion . He needed assistance walking and could not talk. I think he was suffering from a stroke. 

I remember in our high school years Parky ran around with Jackie Turner, Bob Stewart, C.W. Conners, and Alex Orr. Some of them openly drunk mixed drinks in shakers and cocktail glasses. I think C.W. had a convertible then. If there was a party in town, they were there. I remember Parkie was jovial and somehow knew how to bring out the ironic substance of a situation or conversation in simple terms. 

 Parky will be buried at Peaceful Meadows Memorial Cemetery. His parents' and brother's graves markers at Little River Methodist Church:

Parky Latimer, RIP

In high school I used to run around with Jenky Latimer.  That was abruptly ended in the early summer of 1960 when he had a head on collision.  

His brother Parky died yesterday.   Parly had Parkinson's disease.    He came to the Varner Reunion the year before last.  I think he was sick and couldn't speak.  I know he will be missed.  Here is his obituary:


Parks Parky Latimer, age 76, of Dallas, GA, passed away Tuesday, July 1, 2014. He was born in Chickamauga, GA, May 9, 1938, to the late, Wylie Parks Latimer, Sr. & the late, Mary Delay Latimer, and was also preceded in death by a brother, Gene Latimer and a daughter, Karen Latimer. Mr. Latimer served in the U. S. Air Force and retired from the City of Elberton after more than 20 years. He was a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Hartwell, GA and he loved to hunt, fish, and play golf.
Survivors include his wife, Jo Ann Starrett Latimer; daughters & sons-in-law, Kelly Latimer of Jasper, GA, Tammy & Mike Crowe of Dallas, GA, and Angie & Gary Badertscher of Dallas, GA; ten grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be Thursday, July 3, 2014, at 2:00 PM, from Clark Funeral Home, with Reverend Don Voyles officiating. Interment will follow in Peaceful Meadows Memorial Cemetery, with Jeremy Griffin, Brandon Griffin, Eric Bradertscher, Josh Crowe and Perry Adair serving as pallbearers. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday, July 2, 2014, from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM.
Clark Funeral Home in Hiram, GA, is in charge of arrangements. (www.samclarkfuneralhome.com)