Hull Asbury Atwater II (known as “Papa” to his near and dear) died Friday, May 10, 2013. He was born in 1938 in Tifton to Sarah Cochran Atwater and Hull Asbury Atwater I. He is survived by his wife, Ann Yancey Atwater, his children, Hull Asbury Atwater III and Elizabeth Yancey Davis, and his sister and brother-in-law, Sally Atwater Carmichael and Doug Carmichael of Danielsville.
Hull had been in hospice care for about a week, but had struggled with COPD for many years. He was a heckuva man. Hull had many talents, from making pimento cheese to charming everyone he met. He was one of those folks who'd been around so long he knew everybody in town. When he retired after a long career in agricultural equipment sales, he had to find something to occupy his time, so he joined the ranks of nosy old men as a bailiff. After a day in court, he loved to go to Harvey’s, where'd he flirt with all the women he knew shopping. Inevitably, if you ran into Hull at the grocery store, he'd sneak a jar of pickled pigs' feet into your buggy to embarrass you at checkout.
That mischief is minuscule compared to his youth. When he was 18, he decided he wanted to go to the Panama City Beach. He got in his navy blue 1950 Plymouth Mayflower, drove to Florida, decided he hadn't explored far enough, and headed to New Orleans. He said, “The sun was coming up and you could smell the coffee brewing everywhere you went.” In New Orleans, he had a cocktail in a jazz club, took in the scene, and decided to go to Mexico City. He found it to his liking and stuck around for a few weeks, making friends, having adventures, and ordering a tailored sportcoat.While in Mexico, he decided he wanted some authentic tequila. He came across some gauchos on horseback, and offered them Budweiser in exchange for tequila. They ended up drinking together. He later found out that the gauchos were pretty rough guys who could have killed him as soon as look at him.
Shortly thereafter, he enrolled at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, where he was a diligent student of a beautiful redhead who shared all his core classes. He did his research, discovered her name, and found that yelling “Hey Red!” might not be the best tact for asking Dorothy Ann Yancey on a date, so he quelled that impulse. Little did he know he could have called her anything and she would have said yes. They had their first date at Gargana’s in Albany. They eloped on August 11, 1960, at the First Baptist Church in St. Simons. The air conditioning was off in the church, and the preacher wanted to perform the union in his office but Ann insisted that they wed in the sanctuary.
Hull and Ann had three children, Hull Atwater III, born in 1961, Elizabeth Yancey Davis, born in 1962, and John Perry Atwater, born in 1967. John took after his father, playing football for Tiftarea Academy, before he was killed in a traffic accident in 1986. Hull II played football at Tifton High School, as tackle, and later, guard. In addition to playing football, he loved to swim, and was a member of the “T” athletic club. Academics were also important to Hull. In his 1955 annual, Hull marked out Bennie Ruth Baker’s name and declared himself president of the Beta Club.
Hull and Ann raised their children in Hull’s childhood home on Wilson Avenue. Hull loved to teach his children about the natural world. Once, while on a sales trip to Florida, Hull brought home a souvenir for this family. He came across a 3' gator, put it in the trunk of his car, and found a place for it in the bathtub at home. He called Ann, who was visiting her parents in LaGrange, to tell her about the recent addition to their family. Surprisingly, she did not care to have a gator in her bathtub.
Papa introduced his grandchildren to all manner of creatures – snakes, soft shell turtles, snapping turtles – animals he would capture and put in the back of his truck to show off. This is not to say he loved all creatures equally. He loved feeding the birds, but much to his chagrin, gluttonous squirrels would climb the shepherd's hook holding the bird feeder and leave nothing for them. After seeing this problem for some time, he once hooked up a car battery to the shepherd's hook to provide some negative reinforcement for the squirrels. Squirrel abuse is a fine Atwater tradition. One Christmas, at her request, Hull gave Ann a Red Ryder BB gun. Their family, namely their grandkids, took turns taking potshots at squirrels in the pines. Once, Papa discovered a pink baby squirrel that had fallen out of its nest. After years of trying to kill or maim these creatures, he took the baby to the vet to save it. Papa fed Eddie the Squirrel puppy milk for weeks until he was strong enough to be released back into the yard. The family didn't shoot squirrels much after that.
Hull was a gator-toting Renaissance man. He loved to read, especially historical non-fiction or military novels, and shared his love of Ferrol Sams’ “Run with the Horsemen” with his children. He also loved opera. Often you could find him sitting in his captain's chair at the dining table, a glass of "Old Tennis Shoe" on ice, the air hazy with smoke from his White Owl Demi Tip, and some opera record blasting loud enough that he could hear it (and so could everyone next door.)
Hull loved cats, and had several throughout his life. While he was in the hospital, Robert, his big, elderly, black tabby, prowled around the house looking for him. When he came home, Robert didn't leave his side.
Graveside services will be held at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Saturday, May 11, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. Brian Atwater, Patrick Atwater, Davy Davis, John Davis, Brent Ireland, Maurice Hobby, Ricky Johnson, Garrison Jones, and Andy Walker will serve as pallbearers. Jim Lever, Rusty Moore and Ronnie Story will be honorary pallbearers.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Hospice of Tiftarea, P. O. Box 747, Tifton, GA 31793.