Robert Mell Kennon, Sr., 98, of Tifton passed away Sunday, November 14, 2004, at Tift Regional Medical Center. His funeral service was held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, November 18, 2004, at Tifton's First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Jerry Lillard and the Rev. Jay Roberson officiating. Mr. Kennon was laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Charles Powell, Butch Davis, Sandy Sims, Fred Bell, Frank McGill and Howard Dorsett served as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers were Buddy Kulbersh, Allen Johnson, Ray Jenson, Irvin Morgan, the board of directors of Tifton's First Community Bank and the board of directors of Natala Corporation.
Born August 22, 1906, in Quitman, Mr. Kennon was the son of the late Walter Wallace Kennon and Ida Piland Kennon. He was also preceded in death by ten brothers and sisters. He became a partner in a Ford automobile dealership in Lake City, Florida in 1926. He moved to Tifton in 1932 when he purchased the Ford car dealership in Tifton (Kennon Motor Company), and later formed the Pontiac dealership in Tifton. In 1937. he opened a wholesale gasoline distributorship and began a farming operation.
Seeing a need for replacing mules with tractors, in 1941 he formed Kennon Tractor Company, the first Ford Tractor dealership in the area. He expanded this dealership to include dealerships in Moultrie, Ashburn, Lake City, Florida, jasper, Florida and Live Oak, Florida.
In 1963, he was elected the chairman of the board of the Farmers Bank of Tifton, which is now known as First Community Bank of Tifton. He held that position until his retirement in 1996 at age 90. He remained as Chairman Emeritus of the bank until his death. Over the years, he served on numerous corporate boards of directors.
Mr. Kennon was active in civic affairs all of his life. Among the any civic positions he held, he was a member of the Tifton City Commission for ten years, serving as the chairman in 1950. He was a founder of the Tifton Board of Trade, which is now the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce. During World War II, he was the captain in charge of the Tifton unit of the Georgia State Guard, which was a forerunner of the Georgia National Guard.
He was a charter member and past president of the Tifton Kiwanis Club and was honored as a Paul Harris fellow by the Tifton Rotary Club. he served as the district chairman of the Chehaw Council Boy Scouts and served many years as the chief registrar for Tift County. Mr. Kennon promoted agriculture and was an early supporter of the Tift County Future Farmers of America. In 1950, he assisted in starting the Equipment Technology degree program at Abraham Baldwin College and donated a new Ford 8N tractor to the school for this purpose. He continued supporting the program by donating time and equipment to the school.
Mr. Kennon was of the Methodist faith and served many terns on the board of trustees of Tifton's First United Methodist Church.
Mr. Kennon is survived by his wife of 71 years, Imogene Dinsmore Kennon of Tifton; one son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Ann Kennon of Tifton; two grandsons and their wives, Dr. Robert "Ted" and Lacy Whatley Kennon of Middlebury, Connecticut and Jonathan Mell Kennon of Orlando, Florida; and a great-grandson, Alexander Kennon of Middlebury, Connecticut.