James B. "Jim" Hammock

James B. "Jim" Hammock
Dec. 1, 1933 - Aug. 26, 2014
Dublin, GA- Jim Hammock, 80, affectionately known as "Widetrack", was born in Perry, Houston County, Georgia to parents F.L. "Felix" Hammock and Rebecca Smith Hammock, both deceased. He is pre-deceased by sister Louise Denney and her husband Arthur; brother Thomas Lewis Hammock and his wife Vivian; brother Raymond Hammock and his wife Audrey; brother Kelly Hammock; half-sister, Bebe Dennard; and sister-in-law, Mary Hammock.
Survivors include his wife, Ramona Johnson Hammock; daughter Angie Hammock Tracey and husband Ed Tracey of Brunswick, GA; daughter Diane Hammock Norris and her husband Johnny Norris of Warrenton, GA; daughter Susan Hammock Williams and her husband Ray Williams, and grandsons Parker Williams and Chandler Williams of Roswell, GA; brother Ed Hammock of Marietta, GA, sister Rebecca Heckler of Louisville, Kentucky and sister-in-law Lucille Hammock of Perry, GA and several nieces and nephews to whom he has been very close.
Jim attended Northwestern State University in Louisiana and Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and later began his career with Delta Tank Manufacturing and General Gas in Macon, Georgia. He was the Southeast Operation Manager for Amoco Oil in Baton Rouge, Louisiana until he returned to Georgia to own and operate Jim Hammock Pontiac-Buick along with several restaurants in Dublin and surrounding areas.
He began his political career with the election of Sam Nunn to the U.S. Senate in 1972. He was appointed to state boards by three Governors including George Busbee (Georgia Department of Human Resources), Zell Miller (Industry, Trade and Tourism), and Sonny Perdue (Economic Development). Serving as Vice Chair of the Human Resources Board and Chair of the Cost Effectiveness Committee, one of his contributions to the people of the state of Georgia was to propose and help pass the provision that all Medicaid recipients receive generic drugs unless otherwise specified by a physician, saving the state billions of dollars in Medicaid-related health care costs, while preserving the program for current and future recipients.
He was appointed to the Georgia Public Service Commission, PSC, to fulfill the unexpired term of Commissioner Kimbrough and was elected in statewide elections to the post in 1980 and again in 1986 to serve two six year terms. During his tenure, he served as Vice Chairman of the Commission.
After serving on the PSC, he formed a governmental affairs, consulting, and multi-lingual firm, Omni Resource Group, Inc. He was entrusted to represent such firms as Motorola, Sun Trust Banks, Anheuser-Busch, and the Corrections Corporation of America, CCA. Representing CCA, he led efforts to place private prisons, employing hundreds of local citizens in McRae, Lumpkin, Millen, Douglas and Alamo. The Omni Resource Group International division provided multi-lingual communications worldwide for such clients as UPS, Bell South, AT&T, Coca Cola, NutriSweet, Scientific Games and others.
He is a member of the First United Methodist Church of Dublin, the Dublin-Laurens County Chamber of Commerce, and is a former member of the Dublin-Laurens Development Authority and the Dublin Rotary Club.
The family will receive friends at Townsend Brothers Funeral Home in Dublin, Georgia from 6:00PM until 8:00PM on Wednesday, August 27, 2014. Services will be held on Thursday, August 28, 2014 at 2:00PM at First United Methodist Church of Dublin. Interment will follow in Northview Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Dublin, P.O. Box 665, Dublin, Georgia 31040.
Please visit www.townsendfuneralhome.com to sign the online memorial register.