Mr. Thomas Wesley Phinney, Sr., 56, died in Tallahassee Memorial Hospital on September 11, 1976 after a lengthy illness.
Funeral services were September 12, at 2 p.m. from Ivey Funeral Home Chapel. Interment followed in Oak City Cemetery with Dr. Don Duvall and Rev. Richard Davis officiating.
A native of Ft. Worth, Texas, he had lived in Bainbridge for 20 years and was retired plant manager of Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company. He was a member of the First Baptist Church, Rotary Club and was past president of the Bainbridge Country Club. He was a member of Ft. Worth Lodge 448 F&AM and was a veteran of World War II.
Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Jo Daniel Phinney of Bainbridge; a son Thomas Wesley Phinney Jr., of Atlanta; and two grandchildren: Thomas Wesley Phinney III and Corbett Battles Phinney, both of Atlanta.
Active pallbearers were Glenn Hodges, Jerome Dollar, David Bryan, Norris Ward, Bob Dillard and Jim Pettyjohn.
Honorary pallbearers were the members of Barracca Sunday School Class of the First Baptist Church.
Ivey Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Comment made by Marvin Griffin in that same edition:
We will miss Wes Phinney
T. Wesley Phinney was born in Texas, but he lived for twenty years in our midst, and that made him a citizen and native of Bainbridge and Decatur County.
Wes came to our city to manage Williamson Dickie factory at the Air Base complex, and he accepted his responsibility as a citizen of this community the day he arrived. You could tell he was accepted as a friend by the number of people who had to stand outside the chapel last Sunday when last respects were paid to him at funeral services.
Wes Phinney had not been robust during the last two years of his life, or since he had heart surgery in 1974, but his poor physical condition did not dim his enthusiasm for his family, his friends or the welfare of the community he had adopted as his home.
Wes Phinney was considerate, thoughtful, and kind, and if you knew him, you had to admire and respect him. Among other accolades, I guess the one that expresses the thinking of most who knew him was “Wes Phinney was fine man”.
When a man is considered to be “fine” by his friends and neighbors, he is just that. I shall miss his smile, his friendly attitude, his unselfish outlook on life and his eagerness to do his share for those who lived around him. Unfortunately, there is no over-supply of Wes Phinneys in our world.