W. Emory Walters, 71, of Ocilla, Georgia, died Tuesday, May 31, 2005 at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia.
Funeral services will be held at 3 PM, Thursday, June 2, 2005 at Ocilla Baptist Church, Ocilla, with Rev. Robert Couey, Rev. Gerald Thomas, and Bob Reinhardt officiating. Entombment will follow in Ocilla Cemetery. The body will lie in state at Mr. Walters’ home at Forest Estates, 141 Briarwood Road in Ocilla, where the family will receive friends Wednesday evening.
Mr. Walters was born March 17, 1934, in Irwin County, Georgia, to the late Carl Vinson and Alda Lee Paulk Walters. A 1951 graduate of Irwin County High School, he attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and graduated from Middle Georgia College in 1953. At the age of 19, he enrolled in the Mercer School of Law. In 1954, he volunteered for the armed services and served two years in the U.S. Army. Upon his service completion, he re-enrolled in Mercer University to graduate with a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the Walter F. George School of Law and was admitted to the bar in 1960. Mr. Walters was the founder of Walters, Pujadas, & Walker, P.C. He was former Attorney for Irwin County, a former member of the Ocilla City Council and Mayor Pro-tem. He was a member of Ocilla Baptist Church, Delta Theta Phi, the Tifton Judicial Circuit Bar Association, and had served two terms on the Board of Governors for the State Bar of Georgia. Mr. Walters was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Director at Planters First Bank. In 2004, Mr. Walters was voted by his peers as one of Georgia’s Super Lawyers. Considered among the best in their profession, Super Lawyers represent the top 5% of the practicing attorneys in Georgia.
Mr. Walters is survived by four sisters: Lullene W. Hancock of Nashville, Myrtle W. (Ed) Meeks of Albany, June W. (Doyle) NeSmith of Lyons, and Joyce W. Smith of Cordele; one sister-in-law: Betty Joyce Walters of Ocilla; and one granddaughter: Courtney Haggard of Fitzgerald as well as several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son: C. Vinson Walters, II and a brother: Lorie V. Walters.
The family suggests those desiring to send memorials may send them to the Tift Regional Medical Center Foundation, c/o the W. Emory and C. Vinson Walters, II Memorial Fund, P O Box 747, Tifton, GA 31793, or to the Ocilla Cemetery Fund, c/o Betty Joyce Walters, 251 Evergreen Drive, Ocilla, GA 31774 or to the Ocilla Baptist Church, P O Box 101, Ocilla, GA 31774.