Rev. Lester H. Anthony, 89, of Fitzgerald, died Tuesday, December 9, 2014, at the Life Care Center in Fitzgerald.
Graveside services will be held 2 PM, Saturday, December 13, 2014, at the Evergreen Cemetery, Fitzgerald, with the Rev. Robert Couey officiating. The family will receive friends Friday evening, from 6 to 8, at the funeral home in Fitzgerald.
Rev. Anthony was born April 21, 1925, in Greenville, Ohio, to the late Roy Franklin & Annie Mae Cable Anthony. He graduated high school and served his country honorably in the United States Navy during World War II. A bi-vocational minister, Rev. Anthony served as pastor at First Assembly of God in Hawkinsville. He physically helped build the Fitzgerald Assembly of God and ministered there for several years. His ministry took him to the Evangel Temple in Savannah and he returned to Fitzgerald as associate pastor under Rev. Bobby Rodgers at the former Morningside Baptist Church. Later, he was pastor for Cornerstone Baptist Church, where he retired from full-time ministry. He had a long career in construction as well as working as a carpenter and salesman for many hardware stores throughout south Georgia including: Lovett-Tharpe, Pulaski Hardware, Robitszch, Dill’s Hardware, Skidaway Hardware, True Value Hardware, the Home Center and Short & Paulk.
He is survived by his wife of 68 years: Helen Beasley Anthony of Fitzgerald; his children: Larry Anthony of Augusta, Randy & Nancy Anthony and Joy Ann Harbin, all of Fitzgerald; nine grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; a brother: Robert “Bobby” Anthony of Greenville, Ohio; and three sisters: Edith Hawkins of Greenville,. Ohio, Roma Stump of Florida, and Wilma Reck of Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by five brothers: Harold, Bill, Dale, Lloyd, and Roy, Jr. and four sisters: Thelma, Helen, Irene, and Lois.