Leonard C. Pope, 87, of Irwin County, died Sunday, December 4, 2011 at the Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla.
Funeral services will be held at 3:00 P.M., Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at Frank Primitive Baptist Church with Elder Edward McIntyre and Rev. Rex Johnson officiating. Interment will follow in the Paulk Cemetery, near his home, in Irwin County. The family will receive friends from 6-8 Tuesday evening at the funeral home in Ocilla.
Sheriff Pope was born August 28, 1924 in Irwin County to the late Edwin Cleveland and Martha Jane Sutton Pope. He lived in Irwin County all of his life and was a farmer. Mr. Pope served as Sheriff of Irwin County for 24 years from 1973 until retiring in 1997. He was a member and deacon emeritus of Frank Primitive Baptist Church. His professional memberships include: Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, Ocilla-Irwin Chamber of Commerce, and the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes Association. He also enjoyed being a member of the Ocilla Rotary Club and the Ocilla Country Club. The Chamber honored him in 1996 by naming him the Citizen of the Year and also asking him to serve as the Grand Marshall for the 1996 Sweet Potato Festival Parade. The Georgia State Senate honored Sheriff Pope in 1998 with a resolution highlighting his law enforcement career and service to the people of Irwin County and the State of Georgia.
He is survived by his wife: Lenora Day Pope of Irwin County; children: Kenneth Michael (Shirley) Pope of Marietta, Roma Faye (Michael) Clark of Carl, William Darrell (Sharon) Shuman of Broxton, David Lee Shuman of Irwin County, and Terri Lynn (Chuck) Daughtrey of Tifton; 18 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. The family wishes to extend a special thank you to caregivers: Wanda Smith and Janice Duncan. He was preceded in death by his first wife: Helen Harper Pope, sons: Terry Leonard Pope and Michael Wayne Shuman, a brother: Edwin C. Pope; and a sister: Elizabeth Collins.