Stephen Frank Lawhorne, 55, of Ty Ty, was taken home to be with the Lord on Sunday, December 20, 2009, at Tift Regional Medical Center after a long battle with lymphoma. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 23, 2009, at the First Baptist Church of Ty Ty. Pastor Jim Duggan will officiate with burial to follow in Salem Memorial Gardens at Salem Baptist Church. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, December 22, 2009, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Mr. Lawhorne was the beloved husband of Susan Lawhorne; loving father of Alex Lawhorne; and son of Frank and Grace Lawhorne. He was born in Tifton on February 10, 1954. After leaving Tifton in 1959, Stephen lived with his parents in Omaha, Nebraska and St. Paul, Minnesota, where he met Susan Kasperson, his wife of 24 years. After they married in 1985, they returned to Ty Ty to join the rest of the family. Stephen was preceded in death by his father, Frank, and his sister, Joan.
Stephen was an artist whose paintings won several ribbons at the Coastal Plains Agricultural Fair and were displayed at the Atlantic Coastline Artist Guild. He was also a talented musician and played several instruments including guitar, bass, banjo, harmonica, and concertina.
Mr. Lawhorne is survived by his wife, Susan and their son, Alex; his mother, Grace Lawhorne of Ty Ty; his sister, Marjorie Wittekind and her husband, Bob, of Apopka, Florida; his sister, Patricia Schicker, of Casselberry, Florida; his mother-in-law, Essie Marzolf of Bayfield, Wisconsin; his brother-in-law, James Kasperson and his wife, Marina Lachecki, of La Pointe, Wisconsin; plus nine nephews and eight nieces and their children; and Staci Mills, his son Alex’s girlfriend.