Page 8 - Wednesday, April 3, 2024
The Sylvania Times
thesy lvaniatimes .com
-Obituaries-
Gwendolyn “Gwen” Aldean Thigpen Walls Christian
Sylvania - Gwendolyn “Gwen” Aldean Thigpen Walls Christian, age 89, passed
away on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Brown’s Health and Rehab in Statesboro,
GA.
Gwen was bom in Jenkins County, GA, on October 25, 1934, to the late couple
Alene Forehand Thigpen and John Brinson Thigpen. Gwen was the co-founder and
co-owner of Wall’s Diner. She adored her church and Sunday school class.
In addition to her parents, Gwen was preceded in death by her brother, Gordon
Thigpen; and stepfather, Tom Watson Basset.
Those who will cherish her memory include her sons and daughters-in-law,
Gary & Diane Walls, Jerry & Teri Walls; sister-in-law, Lynette Thigpen; and her
grandchildren, April Smith, Gary Walls, Jr. and John Walls; 7 great-grandchildren;
and her dear friend, Willene Dickie.
A visitation will be held on Friday, March 29, 2024, from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
at First Baptist Church Sylvania. The funeral service will commence at 2:00 PM,
Dr. Charlie Cooper will officiate. Interment will follow at Screven County Memorial Cemetery.
Pallbearers: Ronnie Gay, John Rosier, Bob Forehand, Jr., John Forehand, Annon Forehand, Marshall Lanier
Honorary Pallbearers: Hilda Smith Sunday School Class (Formerly Elizabeth Sunday School Class): Doris
Jolly, Daphine Reddick, Billie Kimbrough, Mary Nell Evans, Elaine Milsat, Dot Odom
Thompson-Strickland-Waters Funeral Home in charge of all arrangements, www. [HHVT™
hompsonstricklandwaters.com ~-TlJ W
Stanley “Chip” E. Waters, Jr.
January 29,1948 - January 27,2024
Stanley E. Waters Jr., “Chip” to all who knew him, died at home with family by
his side, at the age of nearly 76, on Saturday, January 27, 2024.
Chip was bom and raised in Sylvania, Georgia and returned there often to hunt
and visit with many lifelong friends. He graduated from the University of Georgia
where he met his wife Lynda (Go Dawgs!), marrying right after graduating and
moving to Tampa, where he fell in love with the Gulf of Mexico and everything
saltwater. He was a faithful and devoted member of Hyde Park Presbyterian
Church, where he and Lynda served early on as youth advisors. Chip was an
ordained elder, serving on session multiple times.
Chip ran a successful medical supply company covering the Southeast, and
though he traveled extensively for work, he gave up golf so he could attend his
daughters’ sporting events and take them fishing and hunting with him. He and
Lynda remodeled their house to be a party house designed for entertaining and
sleepovers for the girls. He was the proud owner of the “Nothing’s Simple” and
rebuilt that Robalo multiple times for vacations to the Keys, Little Gasparilla Island, diving, and fishing trips.
He loved hunting and fishing, but more than that, he loved the friendships and memories that were made
during those activities. Oh, the stories he could tell!
Chip is survived by his wife of 51 years, Lynda Frieze Waters, his daughters Rebecca Bower (Jason),
Stacey Cmm (Josh), Granddaughters Emma and Eliza Bower, Carter Claire and Margot Cmm; his brother
Norman (Louise) Waters, nephews Ross (Nicole) and Scott Waters, and his English Setter Miller.
He was laid to rest in his hometown of Sylvania. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hyde Park
Presbyterian Church or Tampa Bay Watch.
Joiner Anderson Screven Chapel in charge of local arrangements. loi t j cv
Dorothy Jenkins Jones
Mrs. Dorothy Jenkins Jones, 89, of Sylvania, GA passed away on March 27,
2024, at the Ogeechee Area Hospice in Statesboro. Dorothy was born on April
20, 1934, in Cleveland, OH, to the late Tony and Margaret Budner Stephanich.
She was a native of Cleveland, but over the course of her life she has lived in
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Georgia. She was a seamstress for White
Stag for many years. Dorothy enjoyed sewing and doing alterations for the
family. She also loved flowers.
She is preceded in death by her husband’s Harold “Bug” Jenkins, Sr., and
Ray Jones; daughter, Charmane Smith; sons, Allen Jenkins and Harold “Hal”
Jenkins, Jr.; and a daughter-in-law, Barbara Brown Jenkins; brother-in-law,
Charles Jenkins.
She is survived by daughters and sons-in-law, Andrea and Billy Burnside,
of Claxton, GA and Leanne and George Weeks, of Sylvania, GA; sons and
daughter-in-law, Marty and Lynda Jenkins, Kevin Jenkins, Nick Smith and
Vickie Thompson; stepdaughters, Vanessa Davis, and Mary Beth and Alan
Godbee; stepson, Mark Jones; sister, Mildred Jenkins, all of Sylvania; as well as several grandchildren, great
grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.
Funeral services were held at Joiner Anderson Funeral Home Screven Chapel on Friday, March 29, 2024,
at 11:00 AM in the chapel of Joiner Anderson Screven with Rev. Danny Jenkins and Rev. Spike Albritton
officiating. The family received friends one hour prior to the service.
Intennent followed at Buck Creek Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Hubert Jenkins, Faron Jenkins, Jerry Tucker, Nic Swint, Donny Jenkins, and Billy
Burnside.
Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital at https://www.sjchs.org/
foundations/donate/make-a-gift-now .
You can sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com
Joiner Anderson Funeral Home Screven Chapel is in charge of all arrangements.
SESSION
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While the General Assembly succeeded on vouchers and
CON reform, another issue that’s been around for several
years - legalizing sports betting in Georgia - fizzled again.
A constitutional amendment the state Senate passed asking
Georgia voters to weigh in on sports betting made it through a
House committee on the morning of the session's last day but
didn’t reach the House floor.
Other casualties included a bid to rein in some of the state’s
tax credits and an llth-hour effort to move legislation aimed
at protecting the Okefenokee Swamp from mining.
The House overwhelmingly passed a bill to put new limits
on Georgia’s popular but expensive film tax credit on the
last day of the session, but the Senate hadn’t taken up the
legislation by the time the General Assembly adjourned for
the year.
The bill also called for creating a state commission to
do a deep dive on the impacts the rapid growth of energy-
hungry data centers is having on the state’s power grid. The
commission was offered as a fallback position after an earlier
bill that would have suspended the state’s tax credit for data
centers for two years failed to move.
The House passed legislation on March 26 - the next-to-
last day of the session - placing a three-year moratorium
on the type of mining being planned near the Okefenokee
National Wildlife Refuge. But it, too, died when it failed to
get a vote in the Senate.
Environmental advocates looking to stop Alabama-based
Twin Pines Minerals from mining titanium oxide near the
swamp weren’t happy with the bill and preferred an alternative
measure that has been bottled up in a House committee for the
last three years.
“Mining along the swamp’s boundary will damage
the Okefenokee and shouldn’t be allowed under any
circumstance,” said Josh Marks, an environmental lawyer
and president of Georgians for the Okefenokee.
The two legislative chambers also didn’t see eye to eye
when it came to a “culture wars” agenda pushed by Senate
Republicans. Bills aimed at transgender youths and the
American Library Association cleared the Senate but got
nowhere in the House.
The Senate passed legislation to prohibit the prescribing
or administering of puberty blockers to minors experiencing
gender dysphoria, require students to use bathrooms that
match the gender identify on their birth certificate, and
prohibit transgender male students from participating in girls’
sports.
Another Senate-backed bill called for prohibiting city,
county, and regional libraries from using tax dollars on any
materials offered by the American Library Association, an
organization that has fallen into disfavor among conservative
culture warriors for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion
(DEI) in the selection of library materials. The House Higher
Education Committee held hearings on the bill but didn’t
bring it up for a vote.
Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, called
the defeat of bills targeting the LGBTQ community a major
victory.
“It’s undeniable that the tides are shifting, both here in
Georgia and across the nation,” Graham wrote in an email to
Capitol Beat. “Anti-LGBTQ actors are losing their political
power, and more and more Georgians who know and love
LGBTQ people are standing up against their baseless fear-
mongering.”
In Christ Alone,
my hope is found
This past weekend was simply wonderful. Easter
and the ressurection of Christ. I have to say, it always
does my heart good to wake up on the morning of the
celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
One of my favorite songs that is sung by praise and
worship teams world wide is, "In Christ Alone". The
words to this song, touches every part of the heart.
It reaches the soul, especially during this season of
Easter and ressurection.
I am reminded of an Easter Sunday, when the
Altar call was given and at the last minute, I changed
the song to this one. Many folks came forward for
prayer, to renew their life in Christ, and to be saved.
After a few verses of the song, from the very back of
the sanctuary, a voung man had come down from the
balcony. The
young man's
name was
Jonathon,
and he was
headed down
the aisle. The
excitement
on his face,
(not to
mention the
excitement
on our faces)
was simply
a glow. You
see, our
Church body
had been
praying for **
this young
man for about
three years now. At one time, he was living on the
streets,when a family in our Church had taken him
in, helped him
with clothes, gave
him a place to live,
helped him get
into school. The,
after graduation,
helped him get a
good job. He had
become a part of
their family. Now,
he was coming
forward to accept
Jesus, just as we
had prayed for.
The circle was
complete. Now,
Jonathon could
say, ".’’Till He
returns or calls me
home, here in the
pow’r of Christ
I’ll stand".
In Christ Alone
Stuart Townsend
Keith Getty
is a
famous contemporary
Christian hymn authored by Keith Getty and Stuart
Townend, both musicians of Christian worship music
in the United Kingdom. This hymn has a strong Irish
melody and is the first song they wrote together.
Songwriter Stuart Townend grew up as the
youngest of four children in a Christian family in
West Yorkshire, England, where his father was a
vicar in the Church of England. The Townend family
always enjoyed music, and young Stuart began
to play the piano at the age of seven. Known and
respected today by musicians and worship leaders
throughout Britain and beyond, his involvement in
Christian music dates back over 10 years.
“The song came about in an unusual way,”
Townend explains. “Keith and I met in the autumn
of 2000 at a worship event, and we resolved to try
to work together on some songs. A few weeks later
Keith sent some melody ideas, and the first one on
the CD was a magnificent, haunting melody that I
loved, and immediately started writing down some
lyrical ideas on what I felt should be a timeless theme
commensurate with the melody. So the theme of the
life, death, resurrection of Christ, and the implications
of that for us just began to tumble out, and when we
got together later on to fine tune it, we felt we had
encapsulated what we wanted to say.
May you find this same peace this season of Easter.
Sing with me....
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Finn through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
