Rev. Jesse Allen Hathaway, 71, of Tifton died Wednesday, December 5, 2012, at Tift Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, December 10, 2012, at the First Assembly of God in Milton, Florida. Rev. Fred Rogers, Rev. Glen Fussell and Rev. John Hathaway will officiate with burial to follow in Serenity Gardens in Milton, Florida. The family will receive friends on Saturday, December 8, 2012, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals in Tifton, Georgia. Rev. Hathaway will be placed in the church in Milton at 12:00 p.m. on Monday, December 10, 2012, with a visitation to be held until the hour of the service.
Rev. Hathaway was born on December 15, 1940 in Milton, Florida and was the son of Raymond Brown Hathaway and Helen Ruth Hinote Hathaway, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by his first wife, Gladys Marie Yohn Hathaway, who died in 1993. He was a retired Church of God minister and served in that ministry for 44 years. He was a United States Air Force veteran and a member of Midway Church of God in Irwin County.
Rev. Hathaway is survived by his wife, Barbara Pearson Hathaway of Tifton; four sons and three daughters-in-law, Jeffery and Anna Hathaway of Douglas and Kenneth Hathaway and Liz Hathaway, both of Dothan, Alabama; Jim and Louise Blackmon of Mountain Home, Arkansas and Steve Blackmon of Arcadia, Florida; three daughters and one son-in-law, Margie and Thomas Drake of Atlanta; Beverly Georges of Arcadia, Florida and Jennifer Holmes of Arcadia, Florida; two brothers and sisters-in-law, John and Joyce Hathaway of Lake City, Florida and Jerry and Penny Hathaway of Milton, Florida; one sister and brother-in-law, Marie and Sonny Henderson of Milton, Florida; 16 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.