Lewis Christopher Tyus Sr.

Published 6:11 pm Monday, October 29, 2012

Lewis Christopher Tyus Sr., 82, of Cairo, died Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, at Grady General Hospital in Cairo.

Services will be held 11 a.m., on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at Long Branch Baptist Church in Cairo. The Rev. Paul Wade, the Rev. Keith Parks, the Rev. Tim VanLandingham, and the Rev. Matt Peek will officiate. Interment will be in Long Branch Baptist Church Cemetery in Cairo. Active pallbearers will be grandsons, Wesley C. Tyus, Stephen M. Tyus, Brandt Sims, Bobby Cutts, Matt Peek and Seth Peavy. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Win More Sunday School Class.

He was born on April 21, 1930, in Cairo, Ga., to the late Lewis Guin Tyus and Luva Mae Miller Tyus. He was raised in Grady County. On Sept. 23, 1951, he married Brunell Kinchen Tyus, who survives. He was retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture — Farmer’s Home Administration having served as a district director.  After his retirement, he returned to the family farm where he again took up farming. He was one of the last syrup makers in Grady County. He graduated from Cairo High School, in 1947, and the University of Georgia in 1951, with a degree in agricultural engineering. He was an active member of Long Branch Baptist Church and was a deacon. He was a teacher for the Adult Men’s Sunday school class; a member of the church choir and served as chairman of the cemetery committee. He was also a member of Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother and sister-in-law, Franklin and Margaret Tyus; and  brother-in-law, the Rev. Lester Parks.

In addition to his wife, survivors include, children and spouses, Lewis Christopher Tyus Jr.  and wife Chris of Shellman, Ga., Susan Tyus Denson and husband Steve of Moultrie, Benjamin H. Tyus and wife Fay of Cochran, Ga., and Stephen Guin Tyus and wife Cindy of Moultrie; grandchildren and spouses, Wesley and Lane Tyus of Hamilton, Ga., Amy Tyus of Columbus, Ga., Alicia and Brandt Sims of Moultrie, Anna and Bobby Cutts of Moultrie, Elizabeth Tyus and fiancé Seth Peavy and Emily Tyus, both of Cochran, Ga., and Leigh Anna and Matt Peek, Stephen Tyus and Julie Tyus, all of Moultrie; great-grandchildren, Cam and Cade Tyus of Hamilton, Ga., and Harrison and Noah Sims, Parker Cutts and Maddie Claire Peek, all of Moultrie; and a sister, Annie Tyus Parks of Cairo, Ga.

Memorials may be made to the Long Branch Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, P. O. Box 502, Cairo, Ga., 39828.

The family will receive friends at Long Branch Baptist Church, 36 Long Branch Road, Cairo, Ga., 39827, today, Oct. 30, from 6 until 8 p.m.

Guests may sign the online register at www.clarkfuneral.com and www.moultrieobserver.com.

Clark Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.