Donald W. Gettle

Family-Placed Death Notice

DONALD WAMPLER GETTLE ATTORNEY AT LAW Donald Wampler Gettle, 72, of Cartersville, Georgia and Maggie Valley, N.C., died at home July 3, 2003 from lung cancer complications. Funeral services will be held at H. M Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Hill on Sunday, July 6, 2003, at 2:00 p.m. The service will be officiated by the Reverend Dr. Robert Rice, Jr., Pastor of the Brown Avenue Missionary Baptist Church, and the pallbearers will be the members of the SOGG. There will be a reception following the service at Oglethorpe University in the Grand Hall of the Phoebe Hurst Building, 4484 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, Georgia. The family will receive visitors on Saturday, July 5th, from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m. There will be a graveside ceremony at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Chattanooga, TN on Monday, July 6, 2003 at 1:30 p.m. Donald W. Gettle was born on Aug. 24, 1930 in Big Stone Gap, Virginia but grew up in Charlotte, N.C. While growing up Mr. Gettle developed a lifelong love for golf, beginning as a junior golf champion at the Myers Park Country Club in Charlotte N.C. Mr. Gettle began his college education at Virginia Polytechnical Institute (Va. Tech) but withdrew when his father passed away. Thereafter, Mr. Gettle attended Charlotte College, until his induction into the U.S. Army in 1953. Beginning as a radio instructor of young recruits at both Fort Jackson, S.C., and Fort Benning, Ga., Mr. Gettle started a teaching career that lasted his entire lifetime. Even after his service in the military, Mr. Gettle continued to be an amateur ham radio operator, a hobby which he always enjoyed. Mr. Gettle was honorably discharged from the Army in 1954 and enrolled in Catawba College, Salisbury, North Carolina, where he completed his bachelor's degree in history in 1956.Upon his graduation, Mr. Gettle went to work as an engineer for Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company in Winston Salem, but never lost sight of his goal to become a lawyer. After three years in Winston Salem, he requested a transfer to Atlanta, and enrolled in Emory University Law School. While in law school, Mr. Gettle was elected by his peers to the Order of the Coif, was Vice President of Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity, and was Assistant Editor of the Georgia Bar Journal, Emory staff. Prior to his graduation from law school, Mr. Gettle passed the Georgia bar exam and began working at the law firm of Fisher & Phillips. Mr. Gettle graduated with honors from Emory Law School on August 25, 1962. Mr. Gettle practiced law for more than 30 years in Atlanta, while at the same time he served as Assistant Dean and a teacher at Atlanta Law School and in the Master of Laws program at Woodrow Wilson College of Law. Through his teaching, Donald Wampler Gettle used his talents to inspire young people. While teaching law, Mr. Gettle was well known and respected for his true concern and love for his students and his wit and humor in the classroom. After retirement, in 1996, Mr. Gettle lived part time in Maggie Valley, N.C., continued to play his beloved game of golf, hosted a yearly golf tournament for members of the SOGG and wrote a golf newsletter. He is survived by his wife, Linda Wade Gettle, an attorney in Cobb County; daughter, Margaret Gettle Washburn, Duluth, Ga., an attorney in Gwinnett County and Judge, City of Duluth; son-in-law Walter G. Mullins, III, Duluth, Ga.; two grandsons, Lawrence Lee Washburn IV and James Houston Washburn, Duluth; former son-in-law Lawrence Lee Washburn III, an attorney in Gwinnett County; and seventeen dogs and cats that he and his wife rescued over the past years. He is truly missed by family, friends and former students. Donations may be made to The Bartow County Animal Shelter, 50 Ladds Mountain Road, Cartersville, GA 30120. Express tributes by visiting www.mem.com. H. M. Patterson & Son Oglethorpe Hill, 4550 Peachtree Rd., NE, Atlanta, GA 30319, (404) 261-3510.