Joe H. Willingham

Life-long Atlanta area resident Joe Willingham of Snellville passed away peacefully from natural causes, surrounded by family, on August 31st, 2023. He is survived by his wife of 73 years Beverly, and by daughter Debi Jones of Lilburn (Randy), son Russell L. Willingham ('Rusty') of Dunwoody, six grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.

He is preceeded in death by his father Ernest, mother Lula Mae, sister Anita,and brother Clarence, all from Atlanta.

Born Joseph Herman Willingham on July 16, 1931, Joe was raised in East Atlanta. He attended Gordon Elementary School and later graduated from Murphy high School, where he played varsity sports and distinguished himself as a baseball pitcher.

After marrying wife Beverly in August of 1950 he held positions with Beaudry Ford, First National Bank of Atlanta, and C&S bank up until 1960. On November 1st of 1960 he joined State Farm Insurance as an agent and held that position for over 55 years, retiring in 2016.

He was always active in his community. Among his many accomplishments and activities he helped form Briarcliff Community Sports and served terms as its President in the 1960's and '70's. He also served two terms in an elected poistion on the DeKalb County School Board, and acted as Chairman of that Board from 1972 until 1980. Later he served as the President of The Atlanta Tipoff Club in Atlanta. For many years he enjoyed participating in DeKalb Couny Rotary, and was active with The Businessman's Bible Class of Briarlake Baptist Church in numerous capacities.

Joe will be always be remembered as a generous man, someone who could be counted on to participate in worthy causes and help however he could, including leading the way. He absolutely and uncontionally loved his wife and family and took great pride in their accomplishments, regardless of the level of success. He thoroughly enjoyed hearing all about each of his family members' lives, everything from the ordinary everyday to those special times of celebration and excitement, in both good times and trying times. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren were in particular a constant source of enjoyment, amazement, and wonder, and he never tired of hearing of their escapades.

He liked sports, baseball in particular, and spent most of his life helping players and prospects by coaching and teaching the game. He spent a number of years scouting locally for the New York Mets, and became a valuable source of information and evaluation for them during those years. He also liked to quote Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, who once said 'The only thing wrong with baseball is that they don’t play it every day.'

Joe will be laid to rest on the morning of September 8th in a private burial service, and his life will be memorialized later that day at 1:00pm in the Sanctuary at Briarlake Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Joe’s memory to the FurKids shelter at https://furkids.org/