Jesse Groover Bowles, Jr. of Cuthbert, Georgia, died at his home on January 28, 2007. The funeral service will be held at Cuthbert First Baptist Church at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 31. Immediately following the service there will be visitation for friends and family at a reception in the church Fellowship Hall. Graveside service and interment will be at 3:00 p.m. at Mt. Enon Cemetery on Old Stagecoach Road in Mitchell County. Honorary pallbearers will be ordained deacons of First Baptist Church and members of the Pataula, Georgia and American Bar Associations. Jesse Groover Bowles, Jr., was born August 24, 1921, in Baconton, Georgia, to Jesse Groover and Bart Swann Bowles. He graduated from Camilla High School in 1938. After attending Georgia Military College he attended the University of Georgia where he received his BA degree and his LLB degree, cum laude, in 1946. He established his law practice in Cuthbert in March, 1946. Mr. Bowles was a member of the Georgia and American Bar Associations, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a former member of the State Board of Bar Examiners. In the early 1950's, Mr. Bowles served a short time as House Counsel for Callaway Mills in LaGrange. He returned to private practice in Cuthbert where he remained until being appointed as a Justice on the Georgia Supreme Court in 1977. After serving four years on the Court, he rejoined his son in the Bowles and Bowles Law Firm in Cuthbert. He retired in 2002 after 56 years of practice. At the University of Georgia he served as president of Chi Phi fraternity and the Interfraternity Council. Jesse played football for Wally Butts at UGA. He was an avid Bulldog fan and a member of the Sphinx and Gridiron Societies. He was awarded the Georgia Law School Distinguished Service Scroll in 2000. Mr. Bowles was actively involved in Cuthbert First Baptist Church. He was Chairman of the Randolph County School Board; President of the Randolph County Savings and Loan Association; a member of the Randolph County Hospital Board; a founding member of the Randolph Arts Council; and Trustee Emeritus of Andrew College. In 2004, he was inductted into the Mitchell County Sports Hall of Fame. He was a Trustee of the Mt. Enon Cemetery Association that was established to preserve the historic church and cemetery where four generations of his family are buried. Mr. Bowles is survived by his wife Jane; son, Jesse G. Bowles, III (Judy) of Cuthbert; daughter, Elizabeth Chastain (Ricky) of Athens; six grandchildren: and one great-grandson and two great-granddaughters. He is also survived by a sister, Sarah Frances Wicker of
Gray.

Lunsford Funeral Home
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