Kenneth W. Justice, 80, of Fitzgerald, GA died Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at his residence.
Funeral services will be held 2 P.M., Friday, May 25, 2012 at the Paulk Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. B.J. Funk and the Rev. Keith Goodlett officiating. Interment will follow in the Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7-9 Thursday evening at the funeral home in Fitzgerald.
Mr. Justice was born September 5, 1931 in Thomas County, Georgia to the late Arthur O. and Macye Williams Justice. He was a 1950 graduate of Fitzgerald High School. He was a running back for the Purple Hurricanes and played on the 1948 State Championship Team. He was honored as the player of the week by the Atlanta Touchdown Club, was named to the Heart of Georgia Team as a running back in 1950, and was named an all-region back by the GHSA. He proudly scored the only touchdown against Valdosta in the 1949 game. He attended South Georgia College and was a Navy veteran of the Korean War, serving aboard the USS Battan as an air-sea rescuer. Mr. Justice was a real estate & insurance agent with The Justice Company, a family-owned agency he worked in with his father until assuming ownership. When he sold The Justice Company, it was the oldest continuously operating family business in Fitzgerald, dating back to 1895. He also served as the Gulf Oil distributor and was the owner/operator of Pine Tree Kennels, a bird dog-training business.
Mr. Justice was a long-time member of Central United Methodist Church, and a former member of the Fitzgerald Elks Club and the Fitzgerald Lions Club. He coached midget football for many years and was a football official for the Gold Leaf Association. He was a former member of the Board of Advisors for the Visiting Nurses Association of Telfair County and was a former member and chairman of the Hospital Authority of Ben Hill County. Mr. Justice served as Chairman of the Board for the Recreation Department, the predecessor to the Department of Leisure Services, and hired the first full-time director for the agency. An avid community supporter, Mr. Justice “guarded” Grant Street for many years keeping watch over the youth that grew up along the route.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years: Harriette “Boogie” Justice of Fitzgerald; daughters and sons-in-law: Denise and David Adkinson of Irwin County and Donna & James Wiley of Fitzgerald; sons and daughter-in-law: David Justice of Fitzgerald and Doug and Pam Justice of Ocilla; eight grandchildren; brother and sister-in-law: Dr. Arthur E Justice, Sr. & Kate of Aiken SC, and a brother-in-law: John M. Waddill of Tonawanda, NY. He was preceded in death by a sister: Ouidafe Sobus.
The family suggests those desiring to send memorials may send them to Central United Methodist Church, P..O Box 428, Fitzgerald, Georgia 31750.