HAMILTON, Jr., Joseph

Joseph Wilcox Hamilton, Jr. died on June 14, 2024, at the age of 94. He was born on January 29, 1930, in Charlotte, North Carolina to Elizabeth Blanton Hamilton and Joseph Wilcox Hamilton. An Atlantan since 1936, Joe attended E. Rivers Elementary and later North Fulton High School. He graduated in 1949 from The McCallie School (Chattanooga, TN) and went on to the University of Georgia, where he served as President of his Freshman Class and Chapter President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. He worked his way through college in the insurance business and graduated from Georgia in 1953.

Joe served as First Lieutenant in the U.S. Airforce stationed in Landstuhl, Germany in 1955-56. When he returned home, he met and married Dorothy ("Dede") Candler in 1957, and they started a family. In 1964 with Dede's constant support, he established an independent insurance agency eventually known as the Hamilton Dorsey Alston Company, a firm with a reputation for empathetic and responsive customer service.

Joe enjoyed serving the community through various civic affiliations, including the boards of the Buckhead Coalition and The Westminster Schools, and the advisory board of the Shepherd Center. He was an early president of the Brookwood Rotary Club, now known as the Midtown Rotary Club. Joe's insurance instincts naturally led him to develop an appreciation for issues surrounding public safety, and much of his volunteer time and energy was dedicated toward supporting law enforcement, crime prevention, and victim advocacy efforts in both Atlanta and Rabun County.

Property owners in Lakemont, Georgia (Rabun County) since 1970, Dede and Joe took enormous pleasure later in life in supporting many causes important to the county's overall welfare. Joe was instrumental in establishing a new animal shelter to serve Rabun County; he served as a trustee of the Lake Rabun Association and helped establish a recycling center known affectionately by residents as "The Joe."

In later years, he and Dede enjoyed the fellowship of friends – new and old – at Lenbrook Square, where they were involved with what he described as a "fine group of people." At the time of Dede's death in 2016, they had been married just shy of 60 happy and productive years. Joe also was predeceased by his brother and sister-in-law, Edgar Blanton Hamilton and Edith Moore Hamilton.

Joe is survived by his children, including Joseph W. Hamilton, III (Margaret); John Candler Hamilton (Susan); Elizabeth "Betsy" Hamilton Verner (Bill); nine grandchildren, including John Candler Hamilton, Jr. (Becca), Reid Justus Hamilton (Mary Lynne), Tillman Hamilton Fossas (Aaron), Virginia Hamilton Stelling (John), Catherine Hamilton Humphries (Rex), Frances Hamilton Burkett (Nathan), Mary Charles Hamilton, Dorothy Elizabeth Verner, and Josephine Estes Verner; four great-grandchildren, (John Hamilton III, Mary Walker Hamilton, Haley Hamilton, and Hamilton Stelling); his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, John S. "Jack" Candler, Jr. and Katherine Birdsong Candler; 5 nieces and nephews and thirteen great-nieces and nephews, most of whom knew him as "Uncle Doggie." Joe's family would like to acknowledge with gratitude his caregivers at Lenbrook Square, especially Alicia Honore and Tishia Henry.

A memorial service for Joseph Wilcox Hamilton will be held at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Atlanta on Thursday, June 27 at 10:00 AM, after which the family will receive friends in the Hamilton Room at the church. A graveside service in Shelby, N.C. will follow in early July.

Arrangements have been made by H. M. Patterson & Son. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions be made to the "Dede and Joe Hamilton Scholarship Endowment" c/o Lake Rabun Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation for North Georgia, 340 Jesse Jewell Parkway, Suite 605, Gainesville, Georgia 30501 (www.ngcf.org/donate) or to any worthy charity of choice.