William Elmer "Billy" George, Jr., 56, of Tifton passed away Thursday, March 31, 2005, at Tift Regional Medical Center. His funeral service was held at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, April 2, 2005, at Saint Anne's Episcopal Church in Tifton with Father Jacoba Hurst and Mother Nancy Mills. A funeral service will also be held at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, April 3, 2005, at Haisten-McCullough Funeral Home in Griffin. Mr. George will be laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery in Griffin.
Corey Samford, Casey Sanford, Jermy Sanford, Woody Sellers III, Jim Burgess, Rick Ramsey, Bucky Ferguson, Chris Hammond and David Hilliard will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the City of Tifton Police Department and the City of Tifton Fire Department.
Born December 29, 1948, in Griffin (Spalding County), Mr. George was the son of the William Elmer George, Sr. of Griffin and the late Ella Goddard George. He graduated from Griffin High School and Georgia Southern University; and he received his Masters of Public Administration at the University of Georgia. His education also included numerous advanced certificates relating to public administration.
Among his awards and achievements, he was selected "Outstanding Young Man of American"; he received the "Jay Bell" award from the National League of Cities in recognition of 25 years of service to NLC and the Georgia Municipal Assosication.
He was recognized by both President Ronald Reagan and President Bill Clinton for Federal Liaison work; he was a past president of Georgia Alumni Association, as well as serving as chair of the City of Avondale Estates Planning Committee.
Prior to his illness, he was Assistant City Manager of Tifton. He had also served as city manager of Stone Mountain. From 1972 to 1997, Billy was with the Georgia Municipal Association, serving as field representative, director of Marketing and Information Services and Policy Development. He was a member of Saint Anne's Episcopal Church in Tifton.
In addition to his father, Mr. George is survived by his loving wife, Staci Samford George of Tifton; one daughter, Amelia George of Morrow; one son, Derek George of Griffin; one sister and brother-in-law, Carol and Woody Sellers of Orlean, Virginia; one nephew, Woody Sellers, III of Seattle, Washington; his mother-in-law, Gail Samford; his brothers-in-law and their wives, Corey and Liz Samford and their daughter, Ava Grace Samford, Casey and Andrea Samford and soon-to-be niece or nephew, and Jeremy and Courtney Samford, all of Avondale Estates.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Hope Lodge, ACS/Winn Dixie Hope Lode, 1552 Shoup Court, Decatur, GA 30030, which so graciously provided their lodging over the past seven months while they were in Atlanta; or to Saint Anne's Episcopal Church Men's Group, P. O. Box 889, Tifton, GA 31793, which provided emotional and financial support during their time of need. The family's hope is that a fund may be set up to help others in similar situations.