John Robert "Johnny" Harrell, 57, of Tifton died Wednesday, October 15, 2008, at Tift Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 17, 2008, in the Sanctuary of Tifton's First Baptist Church. Dr. Wayne Roe and Dr. W. Ches Smith, III will officiate with burial to follow in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Kyle McCrary, Kevin McCrary, Mickey Reddish, Danny Harrell Coy Tawzer, Joe Courson, Garrett Reddish and Ronnie Greer will serve as pallbearers. Randy Coleman and the Sanctuary Choir of Tifton's First Baptist Church will serve as honorary pallbearers. The family will receive friends on Thursday, October 16, 2008, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Mr. Harrell was born on August 17, 1951 in Tift County and was the son of the late Robert P. Harrell and Hazel Boswell Harrell of Tifton. He was a television and radio specialist at the Rural Development Center in Tifton and a member of Tifton's First Baptist Church, where he had been a member of the Sanctuary Choir for approximately 40 years. Johnny was “Mr. Loyal”. He was loyal to his friends, a loyalty unquestioned. He was loyal to his thousands of radio listeners, really loving the “oldies” from the 1970s, in particular. He managed a radio news network for UGA for several years, updating the stories every weekday. He worked for more than three decades as a radio reporter. He managed a TV news service where stations around the country got their stories.
Johnny enjoyed being a part of the Tift County Blue Devils press box crew, where he would get scores from other games for the PA announcer.
In addition to his mother, Mr. Harrell is survived by several cousins.