Joseph Shockley

Family-Placed Death Notice

Joseph Truman Shockley, known to childhood friends and family as "JoJo" succumbed to cancer on Friday, October 12th, 2007. In 1983, Joe was first diagnosed with colon cancer. He overcame this cancer and lived in remission until 2006 when he was diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma. Born in Athens on December 30, 1948 as the youngest child of Benjamin Arthur and Suzanne Hattaway Shockley, Joe was raised in Apalachee (outside Madison) and graduated from Morgan County High School. He then attended and graduated with a business degree from The University of Georgia where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. Upon graduation from The University, with the ongoing Vietnam war and a compulsory military draft, Joe chose to answer his country's call by joining the Marine Corps. In the Marines, he first completed Officer Candidate School and became a Marine Officer, eventually obtaining the rank of Captain. He then entered Navy Flight School and upon graduation was made a Naval Aviator. In his capacity as a Marine pilot, Joe flew attack missions from ships in the Gulf of Tonkin over North Vietnam. For his actions, he was awarded The Air Medal. Upon completion of his military requirement, Joe entered the business world and had a colored and varied career. he at various times was a salesman of medical products and a real estate agent/broker/developer. For several years, he commuted weekly from his home in Atlanta to Chicago where he held a seat on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and was an independant pit trader of financial futures instruments. It was Joe's last career as broker/owner of his own real estate company that gave him the most satisfaction. Joe had felt for years that the 7% commission charged by the traditional brokers was too high and unfair to home sellers. In an effort to improve this situation, in 1997 Joe founded ValuRealty, the first full service discount commission real estate brokerage company in the Metro Atlanta area. Success in this arena led many of his previously skeptical peers to imitate his business model and became his competitors in the discount commission real estate brokerage business. Atlanta home sellers now have a wide range of choices of discount brokerage companies and commission plans to choose from, all of them charging substantially less than the old 7% commission and in turn saves Metro Atlanta home owners and sellers substantial dollar amounts- a fact that gave Joe tremendous satisfaction. Survivors include daughter Callie Martin Shockley; sons Joseph Brannon Shockley and Arthur Hattaway Shockley; former wife Catherine Martin Shockley; and seven siblings and their respective families. A visitation will be held from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 13th at A.E. Carter Funeral Home in Madison, Georgia. A memorial service will be held Sunday, October, 14th at 2:00 p.m. at Apalachee United Methodist Church at 5070 Lower Apalachee Road, Apalachee, Georgia. A graveside burial will follow at Apalachee Cemetary, then a reception for family and friends at the B.A. Shockley Family House at 1361 Shockley Road, Apalachee, Georgia. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Apalachee United Methodist Church (5070 Lower Apalachee Road, Apalachee, Georgia 30650). A.E. Carter Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.