Rev. Carl T. Sikes, 75, of Ty Ty died Sunday, June 4, 2006 at Holly Hill Nursing Home in Valdosta. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. at Ty Ty Baptist Church. Rev. Danny Jones will officiate with a private burial to be held at a later date. Deacons of Midway Baptist Church in Hawkinsville will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Deacons of Ty Ty Baptist Church, Deacons of Inaha Baptist Church and Deacons of Vanceville Christian Church. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Rev. Sikes was born on July 25, 1930 in Worth County and was the son of A. G. (Albert Grigg) Sikes and Jewell Sumner Sikes, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by his wife, Mona Faye Sumner Sikes, who died on September 14, 1998; and a brother, Bobby Sikes, who died a month ago. He retired as a Southern Baptist Minister in 1993. Rev. Sikes was ordained on June 14, 1969 and during his 24 years of active ministry, he served churches in Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The churches that he was pastor of included Trenton Baptist Church in North Carolina from 1969-1972; Lyman Baptist Church in South Carolina from 1972-1976; Wheeler Heights Baptist Church in Macon from 1976-1984; Inaha Baptist Church in Inaha from 1984-1988; and Midway Baptist Church in Hawkinsville from 1988-1993, when he retired. He also served as interim pastor of Lakefield Baptist Church in Helmer’s Corner, Michigan from 1968-1969. Rev. Sikes was also retired from the United States Air Force. During 22 years of service, he served in Japan from 1948-1950 and in the Korean Conflict from 1950-1952. He was a member of the VFW and the Air Force Sergeant’s Association. He graduated from Wake Forest Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina in 1971 and from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia in 1979 with a B.A. Degree in Theology. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Ty Ty and had lived in Tift County since 1993.
Rev. Sikes is survived by one son, Larry Sikes of Ty Ty; two daughters, Wanda Sikes of Alexandria, Louisiana and Charlotte Sikes of Knoxville, Tennessee; two brothers and their wives, Harold and Frances Sikes of Scooterville and Steve and Mynette Sikes of Ty Ty; three sisters-in-law, Audrey Crownover, Geraldine Stephens and Linda Sikes; two grandchildren, Tonya Sikes Lopez and her husband, Miguel, of Center, Texas and Cassandra Sikes of Knoxville, Tennessee; and two great grandchildren, Caleb Lopez and Michelle Lopez, both of Center, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Ty Ty Baptist Church Flower Fund or to the Alzheimer’s Association.