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THURSDAY. MARCH 24. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 9A
Obituaries
Myrtle Duckett
August 25, 1933 - March 16, 2022
Mrs. Myrtle Evans Duck
ett, 88, of Hinton Commu
nity, passed away
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
at Powder Springs Center for
Nursing and Healing.
Mrs. Duckett is survived
by her son and daughter-in-
law, Thomas & Donna Duck
ett of Hinton; daughters and
sons-in-law, Joann & Buren
Howell of Ball Ground, and
Sharon & Joseph Martin of
Hinton; brothers, Emory Evans of Hinton, Jim Evans of Hin
ton, and James Evans of Hinton; sisters, Jewell Childers of
Hinton, and Betty Hancock of Hinton; seven grandchildren;
fourteen great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Lee
Duckett; granddaughter, Tami Duckett; parents, Tom & Jo
Evans; and brother, Bill Evans.
Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 19,
2022 at Hinton United Methodist Church, with Rev. Gerald
Gleason, Rev. Keith Willard, and Rev. Evan Howell officiat
ing.
Interment was at Hinton Community Cemetery following
the funeral service.
Pallbearers: Troy Duckett, Evan Howell, Barry Howell,
Joel Martin, Bryan Howell, and Cameron Duckett.
The family accepted flowers, or donations can be made to
Hinton United Methodist Church.
Cagle Funeral Home is honored to serve the Duckett fam
ily.
Mary Ellen Loveless
Mary-Ellen Loveless, 62, of Athens, died on Sunday,
March 13,2022. Born in Cleveland, Tennessee to Paul Swaf
ford and Effie McReynolds Swafford, Mary-Ellen graduated
from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Mary-Ellen
was an executive in the advertising industry for many years,
both with Atlanta-area agencies as well as the agency she co
founded. A lifelong Volunteer, nevertheless her involvement
in Delta Zeta sorority during college led her to a role as DZ
advisor at the University of Georgia, a position she cherished
as a leader of young women. Mary-Ellen was also involved
in many patriotic lineage societies, including the Daughters
of the American Revolution, the United Daughters of the
Confederacy, the United States Daughters of 1812, and the
Colonial Dames of America. Mary-Ellen held office in many
of these societies, most recently serving as Registrar of the
Elijah Clarke chapter of the Daughters of the American Rev
olution.
Those who knew her each have their own, unique “only
Mary-Ellen” story to tell, and her friendships were remark
able not only for the depth of affection she inspired, but also
the breadth: she charmed people everywhere she went, mak
ing friends of all ages around the world.
Mary-Ellen excelled at everything she put her hand to, and
her battle with cancer was no exception. Her fortitude was
matched only by her relentless positivity, and her example is,
like the rest of her life, a model for the rest of us.
Mary-Ellen was preceded in death by her father, Paul
Swafford. She is survived by her husband, Jonathan Love
less; her mother, Effie McReynolds Swafford; and her son,
William Coleman Loveless; along with numerous aunts, un
cles, and cousins.
A memorial service was held Tuesday, March 22, at
Athens First United Methodist Church at 7 p.m.
A second memorial service will be held on Friday, March
25, in the chapel of Ralph Buckner Funeral Home in Cleve
land, Tennessee at 2 p.m, followed by interment at Fort Hill
Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral
home from 12 until 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her
memory be made to the Elijah Clarke Chapter, NSDAR, c/o
Anne Hurst Weeks, 138 N. Chaparral Ct., Hull, GA 30646;
the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Laura Rutherford
Chapter 88, c/o Beth Collins, 130 Cherokee Forest Drive,
Athens, GA 30601; Angels Among Us Pet Rescue, PO Box
821, Alpharetta, GA 30009, or at angelsrescue.org; or the
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Development
Office, 1762 Clifton Road, Suite 1400, Atlanta, GA30322or
at winshipcancer.emory.edu.
Lord and Stephens Funeral Home, WEST, Watkinsville,
GA, and Ralph Buckner Funeral Home are in charge of
arrangements, www.lordandstephens.com and www.ralph-
buckner.com
Georgia's Unemployment Rate
continues to fall in latest figures
Atlanta, GA - Georgia
Labor Commissioner Mark
Butler announced last week
that Georgia’s unemploy-
Cemetery
ping around 1832 after being
kicked off a stagecoach while
traveling the Federal Road
near where the present day
Imerys Plant is located.
Henry started a marble mon
ument manufacturing com
pany and delivered
monuments throughout
Georgia for about nine years.
Sadly, he was executed by an
unknown assailant on Christ
mas Eve of 1844.
It was Henry who is cred
ited with starting the first of
a line of Pickens-based mar
ble companies that later led
to the successful and famous
operation of Col. Sam Tate.
This cemetery was his family
plot and contains about 25
graves. The marble sign at
the site mentions 15 graves,
however a number of “un
known persons,” most likely
slave house servants and their
infants, are interred there.
Once again, the cemetery
looks as it should, a neat and
ment rate fell again for the
twenty-first consecutive
month, dropping one-tenth of
a point to 3.2 percent from
clean place of reverence. We
owe a special thank you to all
who attended and to those
who participated in this proj
ect: Dara and Ken Sinclair,
Art Tippit, Andy and Mary
Ada Kidd, Meghan Wandrie,
Laurie Heam, Steve Hall, and
Robert Chambers.
The Lake and Wildlife
Committee, a standing com
mittee of Bent Tree Commu
nity, Incorporated, has been
around since 1985. Lake and
Wildlife works to preserve
the natural beauty and
wildlife of Bent Tree by en
couraging Bent Tree resi
dents to be good stewards of
their natural environment.
Education and volunteerism
are the fundamental princi
ples of the Lake and Wildlife
Committee. This last Satur
day, their volunteer efforts
extended beyond the con
fines of Bent Tree into Mar
ble Hill. They look forward
to volunteering for other
projects within Pickens
County in the near future.
December’s revised rate of
3.3 percent. Every year, the
data used to calculate each
state’s unemployment rate is
reviewed and re-estimated to
ensure more accurate esti
mates nationwide. Georgia’s
unemployment rate was
eight-tenths of a percent
lower than the national Janu
ary 2022 unemployment rate
of 4 percent.
“I am not surprised that
our unemployment rate
dropped again in January
after a record number of
Georgians were employed
and participating in the labor
force,” said Labor Commis
sioner Mark Butler. “How
ever, with the number of jobs
at an all-time high, we must
be careful to not lose focus
on supporting our workforce
and getting qualified workers
into the right careers.”
Georgia's number of jobs
was an all-time high of
4,694,100, up 19,400 from
December to January and up
216,000 over the year. The
sectors with the most over-
the-month job gains included
Professional, Scientific, and
Technical Services, 4,700,
Accommodation and Food
Services, 2,800, Health Care
and Social Assistance, 2,500,
Finance and Insurance,
2,200, and Administrative
and Support Services,1,700.
Job numbers were at an
all-time high in Trade and
Transportation, 989,600, in
cluding the Transportation
and Warehousing sector,
264,800, in Financial Activi
ties, 266,400, in Professional
and Business Services,
756,700, including the Pro
fessional, Scientific, and
Technical sector, 312,600,
and the Administrative and
Support Services sector,
354,600, and in Education
and Health Services,
622,900, including the
Health Care and Social As
sistance sector, 526,700.
When considering sectors
hit hardest by the pandemic,
Transportation and Ware
housing, Professional, Scien
tific, and Technical Services,
Retail Trade, and Finance
and Insurance all have job
growth of 10,000 or more
from two-years ago, just
prior to the pandemic. At the
same time, Accommodation
and Food Services, State
Government, and Local Gov
ernment all have job loss of
10,000 or more from pre
pandemic levels.
Commissioner Butler also
announced today a new all-
time high number of em
ployed Georgians of
5,047,364, up 22,140 in Jan
uary. The labor force was at
an all-time high of 5,215,701,
up 16,905 over the month,
and the number of unem
ployed was down 5,235 to
168,337, the lowest figure
since July 2001.
There are over 240,000
jobs listed online at Employ-
Georgia.com, resulting in a
minimum of over 325,000
unfilled positions. Employers
with over 1,000 job postings
included United Health
Group, 2,700, WellStar
Health System, 2,100, Home
Depot, 2,000, Amazon 1,900,
Marriott International, 1,600,
Piedmont Health Care, 1,300,
Walmart, 1,200, and Anthem
Blue Cross 1,100.
Industries with over
10,000 job postings included
Health Care, 41,000, Retail
Trade, 23,000, Manufactur
ing, 20,000, Accommodation
and Food Services, 19,000,
Finance and Insurance,
17,000, Professional, Scien
tific and Technical Services,
15,000, and Transportation
and Warehousing, 13,000.
Market salaries for the
jobs listed on Employ Geor
gia range from $23,000 to
$104,000, showing a median
salary of $44,000.
Initial claims were up
11,335 (67%) from Decem
ber to 28,257 in January.
Over the year initial claims
were down 102,169 (78%).
Dave Elect S
GARNER
★ ★★ Post 2 ★★★
Commissioner
Celebrate National Peanut
Butter & Jelly Day with a
Candidate Meet & Greet
Come meet
Dave Gamer,
candidate for Post 2
East Commissioner on
Saturday, April 2,2022
at the Pickens County
Recreation Department
from ipm-qpm
Stop by and grab your PB&J under the covered
pavilion at the recreation center and have your
voice heard! All opinions and ideas welcome!
Let Dave be YOUR voice for Pickens!
davegamer22@gmaii.com
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Continued From 1A
Danny
Danny Lee Sams, 67,
Springville, AL, formerly of
Jasper, GA, died March 19,
2022. Danny was bom on
January 1, 1955 to Billy and
Mary Sams in College Park,
Georgia. He is survived by
his wife Belinda Massey
Sams, his children Annah
Sams Hand and Andrew
Sams, and grandchildren
Mykel, Devin and Ariannah
Hand. He is also survived by
his siblings, Marcia (Joel) Price, Sherry Bingham and Timo
thy Sams as well as step-daughters, Stephanie (Quinn)
Sanders, Amy (Chris) Dean, and step-grandchildren, Saman
tha (Scott) Peters, Ivy and Macy Martin, Andrew and Alice
Dean as well as step great grandchildren, Gavin, Phillip, and
Riley and nephew, Joshua Price.
He is preceded in death by his parents, late wife and
mother of his children, Susan Whaley Sams, his brother Terry
Sams, and brother-in-law Norman Bingham.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 26 at
The Church at Bradford Road in Springville, AL. Visitation
will be from 1-2 p.m. with the service following.
He graduated in 1973 from MD Collins High School in
College Park, GA. Danny loved his job and friends he made
selling plastic manufacturing equipment for over 20 years.
Danny also loved traveling, the beach, golfing, and spending
time with all of his grandchildren.
He was a member and deacon of First Christian Church
(College Park, GA) from 1982 - 1991, member of Christ
Church at Whitewater (Fayetteville, GA) from 1992 - 2010
where he was a Sunday school teacher (1992 - 2006), mem
ber of the Whacky Whackers Grounds Maintenance team and
Krystal Bunch Bible Study (1995 - 2010). He was a member
of Faith Baptist Church (New Port Richey, FL) from 2014 -
2016. At the time of his death, he was a member of The
Church at Bradford Road (Springville, AL) where he was a
member of The Iron Men and the Sunday night adult bible
study, he also was a member of the MacDonald Farm neigh
borhood D-Life men’s Bible study group.
Sams
Four Mile
Baptist
Church
Yard
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Friday & Saturday
March 25 & 26
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Pickens County Progress
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