Lamar V. Sexton

Lamar V. Sexton passed away on December 16, 2023. Lamar was born on April 30, 1936.He was preceded in death by the love of his life, Frances Ledbetter Sexton, and his parents, Lester and Ruby Sexton as well as his sister, Ramoth Sexton. He leaves behind his daughter, Darla Sexton Light (David), and son, David Sexton (Vickie).

He also leaves behind, as he would say, “the whole crowd” of in-laws, grandchildren and great grandchildren, including Nicholas (Jessica) Sexton, Alex Sexton, and Molly Sexton, Christopher Light (Katie), Payton Light (Chelsey), and Carlin Crouse (Chase), as well as great-grandchildren Tate, Bonnie, Jack, Landon, Keller, Barron, Jaye Belle, and Jett. He is survived by his in-laws, Lewis and Barbara Ledbetter, Patsy and Billy Holbrook, Doyle and Hellon Ledbetter, and Lynda Ledbetter and a number of nieces and nephews. He also leaves behind close friends Juan Gomez and Sissy Elrod.

Lamar was a savvy businessman who never met a stranger and valued life-long relationships with everyone he came across. Coming from the most humble beginnings in the Silver City community, he started his professional life hauling chickens to what is now the Tyson plant in Cumming. Eventually, he built several businesses from the ground up as he and Frances, his sweetheart from Cumming High School, started to grow their family, where they lived in downtown Cumming for 59 years. In addition to his successful career as a real estate developer, he served on the Sawnee EMC Board of Directors for 44 years as well as the People’s Bank of Forsyth County. He ran a paving business that serviced most of the local roads in town, a dragstrip, and LaFran Mobile Homes before he and Frances opened and ran the Dinner Deck restaurant in Cumming with their best friends, Frank and Betty Coker, in the early 1980s. Lamar developed more than 35 subdivisions in Forsyth and Dawson counties. He literally, and figuratively, wore a lot of hats around the community.

He was a proud member of Oak Grove Baptist Church, where he worshipped alongside the congregation and many pastors, who he considered his own family, over more than eight decades of his attendance. He was a proud lifelong resident of Cumming and was recently presented with a “key to the city” from the Mayor and city council to symbolize his commitment to the positive growth and prosperity experienced in his hometown.

Lamar loved his family with all of his heart and he never held back in telling all who met him about his two children, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. He was a man of his word and acted as a trusted friend and mentor to countless people in his life and in business. He will be remembered for his love of Jesus Christ and his relentless passion for his faith, family, and friends. Most of all, he never missed a moment to tell someone he loved them anytime he was given the chance. He often remarked that “there is nothing more I would want than this whole crew here, together, like this” at family gatherings. “Pop’s” legacy will never be forgotten.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, December 20, 2023, at 11 a.m. at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Cumming, GA, with Rev. Craig Richard and Rev. Ruel Martin officiating. Interment will follow at Sawnee View Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Monday from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. and on Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. and on Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to Oak Grove Baptist Church, 5640 Oak Grove Circle, Cumming, GA 30028 in memory of Lamar Sexton.

Ingram Funeral Home, 210 Ingram Ave., Cumming, GA 30040 in charge of arrangements.