Gary C. Tankersley, 60, of Ocilla, Georgia, died Wednesday, March 9, 2005, at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Albany, Georgia.
Funeral services will be held 10 A.M., Saturday, March 12, 2005, at the Ocilla Baptist Church, with Rev. Gerald Thomas officiating. Interment will follow in Frank Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6:00 until 9:00, Friday evening at the funeral home in Ocilla.
Born May 9, 1944, in Lincolnton, Georgia, to the late Clinton and Maudine Holloway Tankersley, he was a 1962 graduate of Lincoln County High School, a 1964 graduate of ABAC, graduated from the University of Georgia in 1966 and moved to Irwin County. Mr. Tankersley retired as Director of the Irwin County Extension Office in 1997 after 32 years of service and was a recipient of the Extension Services Prestigious D.W. Brooks Award. Currently he is employed with Citizens Security Bank as an Agricultural Consultant. He was a board member for the Irwin County Farm Bureau, past Rotary Club President, Secretary and a Paul Harris Fellow, Past-President of the Ocilla-Irwin County Chamber of Commerce, where he was awarded Citizen Of The Year, a board member for the Housing Authority, a Library Board member, member of the Board of Directors for Sunnydale Training Center, and a member of the Ben Hill-Irwin Retired Teachers Association. Mr. Tankersley received the J. Lamar Branch Award for Outstanding Agricultural Leadership in 1999 from ABAC. He was a member and past Chairman of Deacons at Ocilla Baptist Church and a Sunday School Teacher. He was an avid fisherman, a loving husband, father and grandfather.
Mr. Tankersley is survived by his wife: Shirley Broom Tankersley, Ocilla; children and spouses: Morris & Marcy Tankersley, Tifton, Nan & Cory Vassey, Ocilla, Tammie & Joe Sanford, Fitzgerald and Michael Tankersley, Ocilla; grandchildren: Rob Vassey, Cole Vassey and Ally Tankersley; brother and sister: Carl Tankersley, Twin City and Annette Neal, Lincolnton.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the Gary C. Tankersley Scholarship Fund, set up by the Citizens Security Bank, P.O. Box 165, 300 S. Irwin Ave., Ocilla, GA 31774 or to Ocilla Baptist Church, P.O. Box 101, Ocilla, GA 31774.