George “Perry” McCranie, Jr. of Brookfield, died Tuesday, September 24, 2013. A graveside funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 26, 2013, at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Ron Evans will give a eulogy with burial to follow. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Gideons International, Tifton Camp. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, September 25, 2013, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Mr. McCranie was born on February 23, 1925 in Tifton. He was preceded in death by his parents, Sara Bowen Isaacs of Tifton and George Perry McCranie, Sr. of Sparks. He was also preceded in death by his sister, Sybil Blitch Branch and brother, Piercel Blitch. He now joins with his wife, and high school sweetheart, Sara Kathryn “Teenie” Taylor McCranie, who preceded him in death after 60 years of marriage.
Mr. McCranie spent his early years in Tifton as well as Goldsboro, North Carolina. During those years, he was a Boy Scout, earning the Eagle Scout rank and discovered a love of water, winning swimming medals and swimming regularly all his life until age 87. He began a lifetime of travel adventures, when at 14, he took a memorable ten-day road trip to visit the 1939 New York’s World Fair – an experience that included his first airplane ride – a fly over of 1939 Washington, D.C. Entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ at a LaTourneau revival in 1941, Mr. McCranie graduated from Tifton High School in 1942 with the love of his life “Teenie” at his side.
Following high school, Mr. McCranie attended Clemson College in South Carolina and served as a member of the Clemson college swim team. He then attended Penn State in Pennsylvania and was a member of the Penn State collegiate swim team.
Mr. McCranie was a World War II United States Navy veteran, who served on active duty with the Navy from 1943 until his honorable discharge in April 1946. During his service, he attended Signal School before sailing around the world on Navy assignments. His stories of overseas stops and adventures included Naples, Italy, Tunisia, North Africa (Algeria), the Straits of Gibraltar, and the Panama Canal. He was heading through the Panama Canal when Germany surrendered and they headed to Hawaii to prepare to invade Japan. He then served on Guam and Okinawa, with a side trip of a month to China, where he spent Christmas Eve 1945 in Tiensen, China. For the rest of his life, he would continue to travel in many parts of the world.
After his discharge in April 1946, Mr. McCranie and his wife married on August 31, 1946. In January 1947, the McCranie’s moved to Athens, where he attended the University of Georgia and completed his junior and senior year in just twelve months, while becoming a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Mr. McCranie graduated with a degree in agriculture in March 1948. He continued to be a lifelong learner and avid reader, including the works of F. Van Wyck Mason.
The McCranie’s moved to Brookfield in September 1951, where their residence remained for the rest of their lives together. The McCranies were faithful attendees of the Nazarene Church in Tifton from 1949 to 1954. They then began attending the Brookfield United Methodist Church where, after the first Sunday, Mr. McCranie began teaching Sunday school, teaching every Sunday for 59 years until 2013. He continued to serve his God faithfully both inside and outside the church doors.
Mr. McCranie was an accomplished and skilled businessman in the area, who also continued his service to country by serving his community. In 1951, Mr. McCranie and his first cousin, William I. “Bill” Bowen, established the Bowen McCranie Company, an enterprise which eventually contained a million laying hens, two feedmills, and an egg plant, with great economic help for the country. In 1975, Mr. McCranie was elected President of the Georgia Poultry Federation. In 1985, Mr. McCranie was elected Treasurer of the American Egg Board.
Serving his state and community as loyally as he had served his country, in 1962, Mr. McCranie became a member of the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services and served as Chairman of the Department until November 2012. In 1962, Mr. McCranie also joined the Gideons International, serving as Treasurer, Secretary and twice as President. In 1965, Mr. McCranie became a member of the Tifton Rotary Club and served as President from 1975 to 1976. He left a deep legacy of skilled and honorable stewardship in the communities in which he served.
Mr. McCranie is survived and deeply missed by his daughter and son-in-law, Sara Kathryn Meinders (Marvin) of Clifton, Virginia; two sons and daughters-in-law, George Perry “Buck” McCranie III (Barbara) and William Wiley “Bill” McCranie (Linda), all of Brookfield. His legacy and example lives on in his six grandchildren, Sara Elizabeth Meinders of Reston, Virginia, Kathryn Ann Meinders Hudson (Nathan) of West Palm Beach, Florida, Gena McCranie Green (Jeff) of West Palm Beach, Florida, George Perry “Bo” McCranie IV (Amy) of Brookfield, David Herlovich (Jennifer) of Fitzgerald and Lance Alberson (Scarlett) of Ashburn; his four great-granddaughters, Kaitlyn Kauff, Kassidy Kauff, Ella Herlovich and Katie Alberson; and his six great-grandsons, Caleb Hudson, Micah Hudson, Joshua Hudson, Kennedy Kauff, William “Will” Herlovich and Brady Alberson. All are comforted to know he has been redeemed into heaven by the Savior he served and now celebrates there with his wife and loved ones while awaiting our arrival.
Flowers will be accepted or memorial gifts may be made to Brookfield United Methodist Church, 2470 U. S. Highway 82, Brookfield, GA 31727 or Gideon’s International, Tifton Camp, P. O. Box 7051, Tifton, GA 31793.
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