SAMUEL TULLY LIGHTSEY

Samuel Tully Lightsey Samuel Tully Lightsey, 79, passed away Friday, April 29 at Pioneer Community Hospital of Early in Blakely. The third child born to Walter Clyde and Dixie Seals Lightsey of Madison, Florida, he graduated from Clyattville (GA) High School in 1949. After attending the Atlanta College of Business, he enlisted in the United States Army and was with the 88th Infantry Battalion in the Korea. Among his service citations, he received the Korean Service Medal with five bronze stars, the Combat Infantry Badge, and a Purple Heart. Upon discharge in 1954, Samuel Tully went to work as an instrumentation helper at National Container Corporation in Clyattville, Georgia. There he met and married Elsa Falk in 1956. Shortly after the birth of their daughter Mary Alida, they moved to Linden, Alabama where he worked for Gulf States Paper. Five years and three daughters later, they returned to Georgia when he began work for Great Southern Paper Company in Cedar Springs as a journeyman electrician and instrumentation technician. A year after the birth of their final child and only son, the Lightseys moved to Blakely where they made their home and raised their family. After retiring from Georgia-Pacific as a maintenance foreman in 1987, Samuel Tully was able to pursue his lifelong dream of painting full-time. Art was always his passion, and his talent was discovered at age 6 by his first grade teacher and recognized in his high school yearbook. His thoughtful and laughter provoking cartoons brought smiles to many a co-worker's face. Throughout the years, he studied and practiced various forms of art. For him, the joy was in the creation of art, not in the final product. Although he won countless awards throughout the Southeast for his work, including the Georgia Watercolor Award in 1995, he disdained judgment of art, stating in a recent Albany Herald article, "It's not meant to be judged, it is meant to be studied. If you don't have any idea why an artist painted something, we only judge the technique, not the content." Today, the work of Samuel Tully Lightsey hangs on the walls throughout the world. His exploration into art expanded into handcrafted wooden airplanes and trucks for grandchildren, fanciful yard creatures, and an online store which specialized in how-to-paint books and featured original stories. He was a voracious reader with an insatiable hunger for knowledge and insight, a quirky sense of humor and an admirer of honest self-reflection. He went by many names Sam by colleagues and community friends, Tully by his wife and family, Daddy by his five children and PawPaw by his dear grand and great grandchildren. He is survived by his wife Elsa and five children: Alida (Richard) Ward of Arlington; Penny (Pat) Storey and Sammy (Talisa) Lightsey all of Blakely; Anna Lee O'Neil of Springfield, TN; and Abigail (Michael) Carter of Warsaw, IN. They have thirteen grandchildren: Elsa Allmond (Cal) Crawford, Natalie Storey, Andrew Storey, Walt Lightsey and Clara Beth Lightsey, all of Blakely; Ames (Katrina) Allmond of Boca Raton, FL; Jennifer Ward (David) Dunn of Thomasville; Chris Ward of Leesburg; Mary Brenna O'Neil (Cliff) Corr and Conor O'Neil of Nashville, TN; and Sam, Joe and Jed Carter, all of Warsaw, IN. Their six great-grandchildren are Reyse Atkinson and Abigail Crawford of Blakely; Gus and Charlie Dunn of Thomasville; and Nicholas and Isabella Ward of Leesburg. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Willa Dean (George) Boyd of Clover, SC and Lawanna (Billy) Bland of Clyattville. Surviving sisters are Laurie Bradley of Columbia, SC; Norma (Gayle) Stinson of Houston, TX; and Deloris (Donnie) Powell of Warner Robins. His surviving brothers are Walter Smith (Shirley) Lightsey of Uniontown, AL and Jody (Nan) Lightsey of Selma, AL. Numerous nieces and nephews and countless friends in the paper mill and art industry remain to mourn his passing. The family invites everyone to celebrate the life of Samuel Tully Lightsey at a 2:00 p.m. memorial service on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at Blakely Assembly of God, 69 Martin Luther King Drive in Blakely. Those wishing to make a tribute to Samuel Tully Lightsey may do so at the Manry Jordan Hodges Funeral Home website or on his Facebook fan page. The family requests that flowers be omitted, and those who wish to honor his memory contribute to a local charity or one of his two favorite charities; Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org) and Shriners Hospitals for Children (shrinershq.org). Manry-Jordan-Hodges Funeral Home, (229) 723-3421, is in charge of arrangements. Sign the guest book at www.dothaneagle.com.