Leon J. Baldree, 78, of Tifton died Thursday, December 3, 2009, at Tift Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 8, 2009, at Tift Avenue Church of God. Rev. Jessie Ogden, Rev. Jackie Connell, Rev. Jerry Baldree and Rev. Robert Sorrow will officiate with burial to follow in Pine Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Berrien County. L. C. Hudnall, Harris Wilder, Linwood Rowan, Jody Futch, Simmy McKeown and Henry Futch will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be all Seniors of Tift Avenue Church of God. The family will receive friends on Monday, December 7, 2009, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. The body will be placed in the church one hour prior to the service.
Mr. Baldree was born on July 6, 1931 in Cook County and was the son of Linton Baldree and Sallie Connell Baldree, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by two brothers. Mr. Baldree was owner and operator of Baldree Tree Service for 37 years and worked as an engineer for the Georgia Department of Transportation for 15 years. He was a member of Tift Avenue Church of God from 1986 to the present and Nashville Church of God from 1953-1986 and started the Outreach Sunday School at Tift Health Care.
Mr. Baldree spent his life in the mission field and starting in 1968 was instrumental in building new churches and repairing existing churches in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and on the Amazon River. In the Spring of 1989, In Him Lay Ministries was formed. At this time, the Lord impressed Bro. Baldree to start mission work to the extremely impoverished Navajo Indian Reservation in Gallup, New Mexico. Tractor-trailer loads, literally tons, of warm clothing and blankets have been carried to them as well as the gospel of Jesus Christ. The ministry branched out to include the Hopi and Zuni Indians. Donations of clothes and volunteers that accompanied him to the reservations helped Bro. Baldree to realize his desire to help those less fortunate.
Mr. Baldree is survived by his wife, Doris Burnsed Baldree of Tifton; one son and daughter-in-law, Rev. Jerry and Sheree Baldree of Homerville; one daughter and son-in-law, Gloria and Ray Graham of Warner Robins; one sister, Eva Hudnall of Meridian, Mississippi; four grandchildren and their spouses, Nathan and Rebecca Baldree of Manor, Summer Day and Rev. Johnathan David Quinn of Ketchikan, Alaska, Jennifer Graham and Jonathan Graham, both of Warner Robins; two great grandchildren, Trevor Baldree and Reagan Baldree, both of Manor; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Mr. Baldree’s name to Missions of your choice.