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Tuesday, April 13,2021 ®jje TBeralti (SajettE 5A DEATH NOTICES Obituaries are published as received "Bill" Denson, Jr. John “Bill” W. Denson, Jr., age 85, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, March 29, 2021. Bill was born in Macon, Georgia, where he grew up and attended Lanier Senior High School, graduated from Emory University, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity and then continued his education at the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennes see. Upon graduation he began his optometry career in Atlanta, practiced, until he returned home and served the community that he loved. His early retirement allowed him to follow his passions of nature and wildlife. Bill’s greatest joy was spending time at his farm. His love of nature is best exemplified by his passion for his farm (D-Farm) and being a caretaker of its abundant gifts. Bill was awarded “Conservationist of the Year 2004,” by Central Georgia Soil and Water Conservation District. As an avid hunter he traveled the world, including Alaska, Canada, South America, New Zealand, Austra lia and Africa, all while connecting with local commu nities during his adventures. He generously shared the life lessons he learned along the way with those closest to him. One of a kind, never in doubt, and his spirit will carry on with those that loved him. Bill was the youngest child of John W. Denson and Charlotte D. Denson, sibling of Billie D. Sanders, L.A. (Buddy) Denson, Jean D. Speed and Elaine Denson. Survivors include Terrie Denson, Jack Speed, Jr., Don na Hinds and Allan Sanders, Jr. He is also survived by numerous great nieces and nephews. Bill’s wishes were to spend eternity on his farm, so his ashes will be spread there at a later date, amongst a small gathering of family and friends. Bobby Joe Hand Bobby Joe Hand, of Barnesville, Georgia, passed away on April 6, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Visitation was held Sunday, April 11, 2021 at Memo rial Park Main Funeral Home, 2030 Memorial Park Dr., in Gainesville, Georgia, from 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. followed by services in the chapel at 2:00 p.m., offici ated by Rev. Garth Forster. Bobby Joe Hand, known by close family and friends as “B.J. or Bob”, was born in Clayton County, Georgia to Fred and Anne Hand on August 9, 1940. He attended North Clayton High School where he met the love of his life LaRue Boles. Bobby Joe and LaRue were married on June 6, 1958 at North Clayton Baptist Church in Clayton County, Georgia. He had several occupations over his 80 years. He started early in life as a home builder with his father Fred. Followed by his proud time building the Hartwell dam as an iron worker. He concluded his career, after twenty-eight years, with General Motors. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Barnesville. There, he participated in sev eral mission trips and was an ordained Southern Bap tist deacon. He was a member of the WoodmenLife Chapter 199 of Barnesville. Bobby Joe and his wife LaRue were world travelers and spent their thirty years of retirement cruising to all seven continents (twenty-two cruises total). He enjoyed spending time outdoors, watching and reading westerns, and could never pass up taking a second look at an old car. Bobby Joe is preceded in death by his parents Fred and Anne Hand and his sister Jane Wells. Bobby Joe is survived by his wife LaRue Hand of Barnesville, his daughter Dana Pass and Grady of Gainesville, his sister Sharon Stallings and Larry of Thomaston, and brother Daniel Hand of McDonough, his granddaughter Brittany Swindler and Jon, his grandson Andrew Jared Pass both grandchildren are of Gainesville, many nieces and nephews and other kinfolks. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in his honor to the First Baptist Church Build ing Fund, 200 Zebulon Street, in Barnesville, Georgia 30204. The family of Bobby Joe wishes to extend our sin cere thanks for the thoughts, prayers and kind words. Due to Covid-19, the family requests that everyone attending the visitation and service wear a mask and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Memorial Park Funeral Home, 2030 Memorial Park Road, Gainesville, GA 30504 is in charge of arrange ments. Send online condolences to www.memorialparkfu- neralhomes.com. Judith Pambuena Judith Brantly Reeder Pambuena passed away after a short illness on April 4, 2021, in Dallas, Texas. She was born on August 14, 1947 in Atlanta, Georgia to Howard Walter Brantly Jr. and Mildred Wilson Brantly. She was preceded in death by her parents, her first husband, Bruce Reeder, and her son, Kaleb Pam buena. She is survived by her son Bill Reeder of Barnes ville, her daughter Lauralee Felts (Ken) of New Jersey, sister Brenda Brantly of Milner, brothers Howard Brantly (Renata) of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Bobby Brantly (Donna) of Milner, Wayne Brantly (Vicki) of Barnesville, and Rick Brantly (Linda) of Milner. She is also survived by her grandchildren Anna Reeder, Morghan Reeder, Taylor Cauthen, Nicholas Cauthen, Joshua Felts and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to the Rock Springs Medical Clinic in Milner, Ga. 30257. * n Georgia, where he BARNESVILLE MARBLE & GRANITE COMPANY Serving Middle Georgia For 110 Years Designers & Manufacturers of Marble, Granite & Bronze Since 1908 George & Janice Moore 770-358-1470 124 Railroad St., Barnesville, GA 30204 Vote Georgia election law FROM PAGE 4A casting absentee ballots to provide some form of identification, which for most voters will be a driver’s license num ber or the number off a state-issued ID card, which are available for free if needed in order to vote. Those with neither can use part of a social security number. In an age in which proof of identity is required for everything from buying a pack of cigarettes to us ing a credit card, we do not think it inappropriate to ask voters to prove who they are, whether they are casting ballots in person or absentee. Yes, there may be a very small number of people for whom providing such information may prove to be an inconvenience, but no one eligible to vote should find it an impos sible standard to meet. •Drop boxes - The law will require all coun ties to provide drop boxes, which was not the case before, and will set a standard for how many such boxes may be provided, based on population. This will guarantee that voters in all counties have access to drop boxes, while there likely will be fewer of them in heavily popu lated counties. We do think there should have been more flexibility in the location requirement for drop boxes and hours of availability; locat ing them inside polling places and having them available only for limited hours does not make sense, nor does it seem necessary from a securi ty standpoint given they were under video surveil lance when outside. We should remember that drop boxes for absentee ballots were forced by the pandemic, and are not interwoven into the state’s election history. They are a convenience, not a requirement for fair and honest elections. •Water for voters - The new law says that once voters in line are within a certain distance of the voting space, they can’t be approached by anyone handing out wa ter or snacks. Poll work ers can set up water and snacks in an unmanned area and voters can help themselves, or bring their own if they choose. The apparent intent is to stop individuals or groups wanting to deliver a political message from giving anything to voters as they wait, and is an ex pansion of existing laws that already prohibit any sort of campaigning aimed at voters in line. A bit tone deaf maybe, but the provision sounds worse than it is, and it eliminates the need for poll officials to decide who and who can’t be providing goods to vot ers in line. •Lines at the polls - The new law should shorten voting lines in counties with large pre cincts in that it requires action be taken if voters had to wait for more than an hour at a particular precinct in a previous election. Shorter lines are a good thing. •Early voting - The law adds more weekend time for early voting, which is also a good thing. •Deadlines - The revi sion changes some dead lines for absentee ballot requests, because the old law allowed for ballots to be requested so close to the actual voting day as to make it impossible for them to be completed and returned in time for counting. To some extent, the sweeping election reform attempts to solve prob lems that haven’t been proven to exist. It’s hard to argue against the fact that it likely will ben efit those campaigning as Republicans more than those who run as Democrats, based on geographic and demo graphic voting trends from previous years. Much of what is being alleged about this partic ular piece of legislation is the smoke of political bonfires rather than the substance of true voter suppression. It is not Jim Crow 2.0, but neither is it meant to encourage more people to vote nor to make it easier to do so. The changes may increase confidence in the process for some, though it will reduce that same level of confidence in others. It is naive to pretend there were not partisan decisions made in its crafting, just as it is hard to believe that the shifting of power away from the Secretary of State was not meant to be punitive. Now it’s up to the courts to decide whether the law stands as writ ten, and that’s a decision upon which only judges will have a chance to vote. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted... PSALM 34:18 “Caring Is Our Business” Owned and Operated by Joe and Drew Westbury (770) 358-1678 526 College Dr. Barnesville, GA 30204 email: wwfhbmc@att.net williams-westburyfuneralhome.com Public Meetings •Aldora Town Commission, Tuesday, April 13,10 a.m., Barnesville Houseing Authority; •Barnesville City Council, Monday, May 3, 5:30 p.m., police station; • Barnesville-Lamar County Industrial Development Authority, Thursday, May 13,10:30 a.m., Chamber/ IDA board room; • Barnesville-Lamar County Library Board, Tuesday, April 20, 5:30 p.m. • Family Connections Collaborative, Thursday, May 13, 9 a.m., E.P. Roberts Center; • Lamar County Tax Assessors, May 13, 2 p.m., administration building; • Lamar County Board of Education, Monday, May 10, 6 p.m., board offices; •Lamar County Board of Elections, Monday, April 26, 6 p.m., administration building; • Lamar County Commission, Tuesday, April 20, 7 p.m., courthouse; •Lamar County Health Dept. Thursday, May 20,12 p.m. Health Dept. Building; • Lamar County Soil and Water Conservation District, Wednesday, May 5, 9 a.m., USDA service center; •Milner City Council, Monday, April 19, 6 p.m., Milner Community Library. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Isabella Pott's family impressed by turnout Our family would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your great interest in Isabella’s story. Even though we moved the fundraiser to another location, with your help the word got out and people found us stating that the newspaper and your online story about Isabella’s journey moti vated them to find us and contribute to the cause. Isabella still has a journey to travel but we were very blessed by the turnout we had this weekend. Once again, from our family to yours, God bless you and thank you so much! You’re a true blessing. KENNY POTTS Help feed the community Hope Tree Ministry needs the public’s help in supporting its food bank operation. You can donate at United Bank or Giant Mart. To make donations or let the food bank know of someone in need, call 678.972.2457 or text or call 678.544.2693. Visit hope- treeministry.org or visit the food bank’s Facebook page. CALENDAR ITEM, Email news@barnes- ville.com or call 770.358. NEWS to have an event published. • The Lamar County Republican Convention will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 17 at the Lamar County Court house. • The Lamar County Republican Party meets the first Tuesday of the month at 6:45 p.m. in the Commissioners meeting room. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 4, 2021. • Milner Community Library regular hours of operation are Tuesday 11 a.m. - 7 p.m., Wednesday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Satur day 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. • Rent and Utility As sistance Services: Avail able to local residents through the Salvation Army in Griffin. Info: 770.412.6561. / \ NEW LIFE BAPTIST CHURCH Invites You To Celebrate With Us At Our Old-Fashioned Tent Revival For The Purpose Of Community Outreach! Thursday to Saturday, April 22-24, 2021 167 Highway 41 North Barnesville, GA Services Begin at 6:30 pm In addition to music, each night will feature a guest speaker: Thursday: Dr. Frank Nuckolls (Flint River Baptist Assoc.) Friday: Dr. Mel Blackaby (FBC Jonesboro) Saturday: Rev. Michael Flournoy (New Life BC)