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Wednesday, September 1, 2021 - Pike County Journal Reporter - Page 5A
QBITUAREE
Randy Story
Mr. George Randy Story, age 60, of Thomaston,
passed away August 25, 2021. Randy was born in
Thomaston, son of the late Oscar Story and Florine
Kersey Story. He worked at
Martha Mills in Thomaston
and Crown Manufacturing in
Woodbury for many years.
Randy’s favorite pastimes
were talking on the phone
and eating. He loved his
family, especially his chil
dren and grandchildren.
In addition to his parents,
he was preceded in death
by his brother, James Danny
Story.
He is survived by his
children and their spouses: Jeffery Story of Wood
bury, Heather McDaniel of Gillville, Crystal and Tyler
Caudell of Clarksville, Jacob and Joelle Story of Zebu-
Ion and Jeremiah Story of Thomaston; grandchildren:
Bailey, Levi and McKayla Story, Jeshua and Anayah
McDaniel, Kaylee and Lane Caudell and Braylynn and
Ryver Story; great-granddaughter: Oaklynn Story; and
sister: Joan Story Coleman of Meansville.
Friends visited the family on Friday, August 27
from 5 to 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Funeral ser
vices were held on Saturday, August 28 at 2 p.m. at
Rehoboth Church of the Nazarene, with Rev. James D.
Wilson officiating. Burial followed in Fincher Memo
rial Cemetery.
Moody-Daniel Funeral Home assisted the family
with arrangements.
Barbara Manahan
Mrs. Barbara Jean Calhoun Manahan, age 87, of
Williamson passed away August 24, 2021, at Upson
Regional Medical Center.
Mrs. Manahan was born
on September 8, 1933, to
the late Warren Robert Al
len and the late Edna Mae
Pippin Snowden. She was a
homemaker and a member
of Rehoboth Church of The
Nazarene. In addition to
her parents she is preceded
in death by her first hus
band of 52 years, James C.
Calhoun Sr.; and second
husband of 15 years, James
E. Manahan.
Survivors include her daughters, Deborah (Jim)
Thomas of Griffin GA, Linda (Lyn) Smith of Molena
GA, Susan (Todd) Mauney of Riegelwood N.C.; son,
James C. (Melinda) Calhoun Jr. of Griffin GA; 12
grandchildren; 22 great grandchildren; and six great-
great grandchildren.
Graveside services were held on Sunday, August
29, 2021 at 2 p.m. at Pine Mountain Church of The
Nazarene Cemetery.
Coggins Funeral Home, 321 Hannahs Mill Road,
Thomaston, GA 30286, 706-647-9681.
Theda Smith
Theda Allene English Smith, age 58, of Meansville,
passed away August 27, 2021, Piedmont-Fayette
Hospital. Theda grew up in Jonesboro and lived there
until her family moved
to Barnesville when she
entered the eighth grade.
She graduated from Lamar
County Comprehensive
High School in 1980. She
was in the jewelry busi
ness for 30+ years, working
for Jared Jewelers, Shane
Co. and most recently Kay
Jewelers in Griffin. Theda
enjoyed roller skating,
scrapbooking, photography
and crafts. She was a great
friend who always had love in her heart. She lived to
make others happy. Theda was the true definition of
sunshine, butterflies and rainbows.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Sterling
Edsell English, Sr. and Patricia Ann Alexander John
son, stepfather, Hoke Johnson, brother Sterling Edsell
English, Jr., sister, Claudia White, stepbrother, Phillip
Johnson and nephew, Ezra White.
She is survived by her significant other: Joe
Lamenskie and son Jared Lamenskie; niece: Mag
gie Baez and husband Miguel; nephew: Joey White
and fiance Lizee Fonseca; sister-in-law: Joy English;
cousin: Connie Sprayberry; dear friends: Melissa and
Tim Cato, Jessica Cato, Danielle and Gary Carlock,
Tori and Adam Carlock, Wanda and Murray Wallace,
LuAnn and Lee Higdon and Darin and Christy Bray.
A graveside service was held on Tuesday, August
31 at 10:30 a.m. in the Milner Baptist Church Cem
etery, 107 Pecan Drive, Milner.
Friends visited the family on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
graveside.
Moody-Daniel Funeral Home assisted the family
with arrangements.
ARREST REPORT
Between Monday, August 23, and Sunday, August
29, area law enforcement agencies made the following
arrests:
PIKE COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE:
Nathaniel Brian Morris, 41, probation violation
(when probation terms are altered) for fingerprint-
able charge;
Victor Stephen Pias, 58, second degree criminal
damage to property and loitering;
Samuel Allen Wells, 35, sale, distribution or posses
sion of dangerous drugs.
ZEBULON POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Ariel Patrease Norman, 24, speeding, driving with
out license, expired vehicle tag or decal and turning
position; signals required;
Taylor Andrew Douglas Schlake, 20, DU1 drugs and
failure to drive within single lane.
GEORGIA STATE PATROL:
Kayla Jordan Smith, 28, approaching authorized
emergency vehicle, DU1, failure to yeild to emergency
vehicle and possession of marijuana less than one
ounce.
Public meetings
The next scheduled meetings in Pike County are:
• Pike County commission, Wednesday, September 8, 9 a.m.
in the main, upstairs courtroom of the courthouse.
• Concord city council, Tuesday, September 21, 7 p.m., city hall
• Meansville council, Monday, September 13, 7 p.m.,
Meansville city hall, 6:45 p.m.
• Molena city council, Monday, September 13, 6 p.m.,
Molena city hall
• Pike County agribusiness authority, Thursday, September
16, 7 p.m., Farm Bureau office.
• Pike County board of appeals, Thursday, September 16,6 p.m.
• Pike County board of education, Tuesday, September 14, 6
p.m., Board Room at the Pike County Schools Memorial Annex.
• Pike County library board, Thursday, September 9, 4:30
p.m., J. Joel Edwards Public Library.
• Pike planning commission, Thursday, September 9, 6:30
p.m.
• Pike County tax assessors, Tuesday, September 14, meeting
at 9 a.m., Pike EMA/Storage Facility, 1132 Twin Oaks Road.
• Pike County water authority meeting, Thursday, Septem
ber 16, 7:30 a.m., authority building.
• Williamson city council, No meeting will be held in Sep
tember, next meeting is Thursday, Oct. 14, 7 p.m.
• Zebulon city council, Tuesday, September 14, 6 p.m.
• Zebulon Downtown Development Authority, Tuesday,
September 21, 7 p.m., A Novel Experience, 426 Thomaston St.
• Board of elections and registration, 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sep
tember 21, in the commissioners’ conference room.
• Pike County Parks and Recreation Authority, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, September 21, EMA facility.
Barry Wayne
McWilliams
Barry Wayne McWilliams passed away on August
14, 2021, at his home outside Whitehall, Montana. He
was 79 years old.
Barry was born on Febru
ary 17, 1942, in North Hol
lywood, California, to Leigh
and Irene (Hewitt) McWil
liams in a hospital with
blackout curtains due to the
fear of Japanese invasion
of the west coast following
Pearl Harbor. He spent his
younger years in what he
referred to as an “immigrant
home” where three distinct
families shared a small
three-bedroom house with
wall-to-wall mattresses. Throughout his life, he remi
nisced about that simpler time growing up on Carpen
ter Avenue with his beloved sister and cousins.
His love of literature led him to his first true
profession, teaching English, but it was not to be his
last. He trained horses in the mountains of Northern
New Mexico, drove a Pepsi truck and later a talc
truck, and ultimately found himself selling ads and
shooting pictures for the Madisonian, a small weekly
newspaper in Virginia City, Montana, where he real
ized his lifelong dream of being a cartoonist might
actually happen. At first, began drawing his weekly
editorial cartoon, J.P. Doodles, for the Madisonian —
for free. A few months later, he split a week’s worth
of firewood for his family, bought a week’s worth of
food, spent his last $20 on gas, and headed out across
Montana on a late-November night with packets of
cartoons. The first paper to sign on was the Sanders
County Ledger in Thompson Falls, Montana. Eventu
ally, he cartooned from four continents for more than
1,500 newspapers and visited hundreds of elementary
schools teaching kids to draw. He continued ‘toon-
ing right up to the end, sending out his last Back-to-
School cartoon on the Thursday before he passed.
Barry was a character. Unique. Unlike anyone
you’ve ever met. He was a born salesman and an
incredible idealist. He was an adventurer who hitch
hiked around Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War
to interview soldiers, joined a government trade
mission to Asia, declared himself “shipwrecked” on
Flinders Island off the southern coast of Australia,
and helped mastermind America’s biggest cattle drive
in over a hundred years. He was a poet, an enigma,
and a dreamer. He could walk into a restaurant and
sit there for hours talking to complete strangers who
quickly became friends. He had a tremendous love
for animals, something his mother instilled in him
at a young age that gave him purpose until the day
he passed. His hearty laugh could fill a room, often
followed by a subdued “oh, sh*t.” Sometimes, he was
exasperating, but never intentionally; at his core,
he had the biggest heart and the best intentions. He
was a brother, a cousin, an uncle, and a husband (a
number of times). He was a father and Papa Bar who
loved his kids and grandkids above all else, even
when he struggled to show it. He didn’t believe in
boundaries or limits, only that they were a perception
and something to overcome. He never seemed to be
in a hurry except when he needed to get his cartoons
out to the papers.
Barry was preceded in death by his parents Leigh
and Irene McWilliams; his sister Maureen (Charles)
Byrne and baby sister Cheryl McWilliams who died
during infancy; his half-brother Leigh (Milly) McWil
liams Jr. and half-sister Eleanor (Bob) Sowers; as well
as numerous other relatives he kept in contact with
on and off throughout the years. He is survived by
his children, Colin (Cynthia) McWilliams, Summer
(Michael) Marston, Ethan (Megan) McWilliams, and
Noah (Jessica) McWilliams; his eight grandchildren,
Kirby, Catherine, Amelia, River, Grant, Matilda, Gar
rett, and Charlotte; as well as the incredible ladies he
married (not all at the same time) and mothers to his
kids, Catharine (Courter) Dombrovske, Nancy (Smith)
Tarnai, and Mary Ellen Doty.
A celebration of life will be held on Thursday,
August 26, 2021, from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Whitehall
Community Center, 11 N. Division Street, Whitehall
MT 59759. The public is welcome.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to 4 Paws
Rescue, PO Box 13, Cardwell MT 59721. Memories,
anecdotes, etc. are encouraged and can be shared with
his kids by emailing Barry@BarrysCartoons.com.
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
Pike Republican Party
to meet Sept. 7 in Concord
The next meeting of
the Pike County Repub
lican Party will be at 6
p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7 at
the Strickland building in
Concord.
The guest speaker
will be Congressman
Drew Ferguson who will
address the state of the
nation.
“Everyone in the com
munity is welcome to
come,” said John Han
son of the Pike County
Republican Party.
Zebulon man gets life in
prison for murder of friend
Truman Smith, 32,
was sentenced to life
in prison on Aug. 20 for
fatally shooting a friend,
Johnnie Crawford, 50, at
point blank range.
DeKalb District At
torney Sherry Boston an
nounced the conviction
by jury trial in the mur
der case against Smith,
who was from Zebulon,
Georgia.
Jurors
returned
guilty verdicts
against Smith
on charges of
felony murder,
aggravated
assault and
possession of a
firearm during
commission of
a felony in con
nection with the shooting
death of Crawford.
The fatal incident
occurred on Sept. 15,
2016. Smith, his cousin,
a friend, and the victim
were hanging out and
drinking in the parking
lot of the friend’s apart
ment on Bent Tree Loop
in Stone Mountain after
work. The four friends
had spent time together
on multiple occasions,
drinking and hanging
out. On the evening
of the incident, Smith
pulled his gun out and
pointed it at Crawford,
unprovoked. Smith was
the only man armed.
Crawford had tears in
his eyes, while all three
men asked Smith what
was going on and the
cousin and friend tried to
calm Smith down. Smith
walked away, and after it
seemed as if the situation
had diffused and the men
believed that Smith had
put his gun away, they
went back to drinking.
Suddenly, Smith pulled
his gun back out and
shot Crawford in the face
at point blank range.
Smith, who still had
his gun at his side,
told his cousin to take
him away. The cousin
dropped Smith off at
his own vehicle, then
returned to the
location of the
incident.
On Sept. 21,
2016, Smith
was stopped in
Texas County,
Missouri, by
Missouri State
Highway Patrol
for speed
ing. When the
trooper ran
Smith’s license, he con
firmed that Smith had an
active warrant in DeKalb
County and placed him
under arrest. A search
of the vehicle turned up
a pistol, a handgun and
ammunition. The hand
gun was later confirmed
to be the weapon used to
kill Crawford.
Smith was sentenced
to life in prison plus five
years by DeKalb Superior
Court Judge Stacey K.
Hydrick.
The case was prose
cuted by Senior Assistant
District Attorney Ashley
O’Neal, with assistance
from Deputy Chief As
sistant District Attorney
Rod Wilkerson, DA Inves
tigator Parks McIntosh,
and Victim Advocate
Maria Callava. Detective
C. Tappan of the DeKalb
Police Department led
the initial investigation.
Story compiled by OCGnews.com
TRUMAN SMITH
Bryson Pierce is new RSCA
head baseball coach
Rock Springs Christian
Academy will welcome
a new head baseball
coach, Bryson Pierce,
to lead the program for
their next season. He is
married to Tami Pierce
and is a Griffin native.
Before his arrival, he
served as Griffin Chris
tian’s Athletic Direc
tor and has success
fully coached baseball at
various levels. He played
baseball at Griffin High
School and collegiately
at Abraham Baldwin
Agricultural College.
Coach Pierce will also be
teaching middle school
history.
“When tasked with
finding the right head
coach to grow and lead
our baseball program,
the first individual 1
thought of was coach
Pierce. I’ve had the privi
lege the last few years
to see his successes at
Griffin Christian. 1 knew
he was the right man for
the job, given his passion
for Christ and the game
of baseball,” said RSCA
athletic director David
Brock. “He has worked
hard all summer putting
together a staff who all
have collegiate or profes
sional baseball experi-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Bryson Pierce was recently
announced as the new head
baseball coach for Rock
Springs Christian Academy.
ence. Most importantly,
these men all show
outstanding Christian
character. I fully believe
coach Pierce and his
staff will build one of the
best baseball programs
in the state.”
Rock Springs Christian
Academy is currently in
the process of building
two baseball fields, two
softball fields and an
indoor pitching facility.
All of which is part of
Rock Springs Church’s
commitment to build
the needed facilities for
the school and church’s
growth, said RSCA com
munications director
Marlee Albrecht.
BOARD VACANCY
The Pike County Board of Commissioners Office is ac
cepting applications for one appointment to the Pike County
Animal Shelter Advisory Board. Applicants must be 21 years
or older, have a high school diploma or equivalent, reside
within Pike County and be a registered voter of Pike County.
Applications may be picked up at the Board of Commission
ers Office, 331 Thomaston St., Zebulon.
Deadline for applications is Friday, September 10, 2021,
by 5:00 p.m., subject to extension.
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