Obituaries for December 2
Published 4:15 pm Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Betty Jean Alford Wheeler
DOERUN — Betty Jean Alford Wheeler, 47, of Doerun died Friday, Nov. 26, 2004, at Colquitt Regional Medical Center.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, at Beulah Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. Sterling Calhoun officiating. Burial will follow at Dunk Smith Cemetery in Doerun. Gary Copeland, Willie C. Copeland, Willie Fuller, Charles Copeland, Kenneth Copeland and David Richardson will serve as pallbearers.
Born June 11, 1957, in Doerun, Ms. Wheeler was the daughter of the late Dorothy Lee Alford and Rayford Alford Sr.
She was preceded in death by her parents; one brother, Rayford Alford Jr.; and one sister, Martha Dee Alford Thomas.
Survivors include her husband, Johnny Claude Wheeler Jr.; three sons, Johnny Wheeler III and wife Carrita and Tavern Wheeler, all of Doerun, and Ronald Alford and wife Gina of Moultrie; three daughters, Melissa Hayes and husband Tracy and Monique Alford and husband Johnny, all of Albany, and Latonya Wheeler and husband Jason of Doerun; four brothers, Martin Alford and wife Margaret and Jerry Alford and wife Gwen, all of Tampa, Fla., Ricky Alford and wife Gloria of Doerun and Willie J. Alford of Sylvester; three sisters, Merita Alford and husband Arthur and Tammie Alford, all of Doerun, and Annie Mae Bass of Americus; two stepdaughters, Lynette Wheeler of Germany and Latasha Wheeler of Pelham; 10 grandchildren; and a host of other relatives and friends.
Visitation will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, in the chapel of Luke Strong and Son Mortuary.
Luke Strong and Son Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
James Gary “Jake” Lacey Jr.
MOULTRIE — James Gary “Jake” Lacey Jr., 76, of Moultrie died Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2004, at his residence.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, at Cobb Funeral Chapel with the Rev. J.E. Moak officiating. Burial will follow at Cobb Suncrest Memorial Gardens.
Born Jan. 21, 1928, in Brooks County, Mr. Lacey was the son of the late Esther Lee Simpson Lacey and James Gary Lacey. He was a master carpenter and the owner of Lacey Builders. Mr. Lacey was a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Laney Jo Wilson Lacey.
Survivors include three sons, Gary Lacey, Keith Lacey and Kem Lacey and wife Nancy, all of Moultrie; three sisters, Juanita McRae of Valdosta, Mary Kramich of Atlanta and Betty Jean Ellis of Tallahassee, Fla.; seven grandchildren, James Lacey, Lane Pate, Josh Lacey, Ashley Lacey, Jena Lacey, J. Lacey and Marlee Lacey; and three great-grandchildren, Crissy Lacey, Kayleigh Lacey and Morgan Pate.
Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 tonight at the funeral chapel.
The family may be contacted at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kem Lacey, 334 Old Albany Road, Moultrie, GA 31768.
The family requests that memorials be made to Hospice of Colquitt County.
Cobb Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Adeline Wilhelmina Zachert Barber
Sunset Beach, N.C. — Adeline Wilhelmina Zachert Barber, 82, of Sunset Beach, N.C., formerly of Moultrie, died Monday, Nov. 29, 2004, at her son’s home in Atlanta after a long battle with cancer.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. today (Dec. 2) at Masonboro Baptist Church in Wilmington, N.C. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, at Trinity Baptist Church in Moultrie with the Rev. Jimmy Elder officiating. Interment will follow the service.
Ms. Barber was born on the Massee farm in Randolph County to the late Cora Harrison Goneke Massee and the late Rev. Reinhold Edward Zachert, who pastored many rural Baptist churches in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. She attended grade school in Brinson and high school in Bainbridge and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree from Bessie Tift College in Forsyth. After college, she taught high school mathematics and science in Hogansville and then for several years in Moultrie. She earned a master’s degree in religious education from the WMU training school of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Ms. Barber returned to Moultrie to become the first female director of the Southern Baptist Convention in Georgia, working under the direction of Pastor Dick Gresham. During the Korean War, she was stationed for two years in Japan, where she served with the American Red Cross as a hospital recreation worker. She also coordinated the introduction of an integrated Head Start program in Georgia, the Carolinas and other states across the nation.
She married Leroy Robert Barber Sr. on Aug. 23, 1953. They had three children, Leroy Robert Barber Jr. and wife Rel, Edward Zachert Barber and wife Lu and Myrtle Louise Barber “Kiki” Vanek and husband Bill, and two foster children, Hans Jergen Seezen and wife Karen and Haydee Torres Grube and husband Charles. In 1965, following the death of her husband, Ms. Barber was appointed director of the Colquitt County Office of Economic Opportunity Child Care Program, which became the Full Year Head Start Program.
In 1968 she enrolled in the early childhood education graduate program at The University of Georgia. In fewer than 16 months, she had earned a doctorate of education degree while developing Follow Through materials that have been used worldwide in early childhood education programs. She was appointed to the faculty of The University of Georgia, where she earned the rank of associate professor and coordinated the Follow Through Program. In 1974, Ms. Barber moved to Armstrong State College, where she became a professor of early childhood education. She served at Armstrong State until 1978, when she married Leo Thomas Barber Sr.
Upon marrying Leo Barber, she resigned and moved from Hilton Head, S.C., to Moultrie, where she lived with her husband until his death in 1987. From this marriage she gained five stepchildren, Leo Thomas Barber Jr. and wife Ann, Sue Appleby Barber Fontenot, Jean Barber Crawford and husband Jule, Albert White Barber and wife Joyce and Marion Louise Barber Mann and husband Terry.
In 1993 Ms. Barber moved from Moultrie to Baton Rouge, La., to be near daughter “Kiki” and her family. In 1997 the family moved to Wilmington and Ms. Barber established a home nearby at Sunset Beach. She floated between the two homes until her death.
Survivors include, from her first marriage, five children, 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; from her second marriage, one child, 12 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild; three siblings, Edward Goneke Zachert and wife Martha Jane of Tallahassee, Fla., Virginia Zachert of Evans and Lucia Zachert Ladson and husband Lonnie of Albertville, Ala.; and several nieces, nephews, godchildren, cousins and friends.
The family will receive guests from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, at Harrell-Faircloth Funeral Home.
The family requests that any memorials be made to Noah’s Ark Childcare Center in Wilmington, Whitefield Academy Lower School in Mableton or Trinity Baptist Church Student Ministry in Moultrie.