Rev. Jesse L. Alligood, 86, of Meigs, died June 25, 2014 at his home, following a lengthy pulmonary and lung illness that left him, as he once remarked, "like a fish out of water."
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Saturday, June 28, at New Bethel Baptist Church with the Rev. Terrell Ruis officiating, assisted by Mr. Leon Alligood and Mr. Stewart Alligood Lucas. Interment will follow at New Bethel Cemetery. Casketbearers will be Arthur Alligood, Shepherd Alligood, John Weeks, Jacob Weeks, Michael Alligood, Caleb Alligood and Stewart Alligood Lucas.
A native of Colquitt County, he grew up in an area of the county where Alligoods were plentiful. His great-grandfather, D. C. Alligood, settled in the then-heavily forested southwestern portion of the county just before the Civil War. D.C. survived war and typhoid and returned home to raise a family, one son being John Alligood. John, in turn begat Arthur Daniel "Bud" Alligood. All of these Alligood men were farmers, transforming the pine barrens into a patchwork of cotton and tobacco fields.
Jesse, who was raised in the Baptist faith at New Bethel Baptist Church, was the oldest of Bud and Marie Alligood's seven children. After graduation from high school, he yielded to the pastor's call and enrolled at Norman Park College, the first of his family to seek a university degree. There, he met the love of his life, a pretty catch named Elizabeth Ann Hiers, his family said.
He continued on to Mercer University to complete his bachelor's degree, while she returned to her hometown of West Palm Beach Fla. Their romance survived the long distance and in August of 1952, they were married.
Following graduation from Mercer, he continued his theology studies at Southeastern Seminary in North Carolina and afterwards began a preaching career that lasted 60 years. He was pastor at: Leesville Baptist, Leesville, N.C.; Chestnut Mountain Baptist, Chestnut Mountain, Ga.; Patterson Baptist, Patterson, Ga.; Ocilla Baptist, Ocilla, Ga., and Arlington Baptist, Arlington, Ga. After leaving Arlington, he served as area missionary for the Columbia Baptist Association of the Georgia Baptist Convention. From this position, he frequently was a supply pastor for Baptist churches in several counties near Columbus, Ga.
He was the author of commentaries in the Christian Index and also delivered the primary sermon at the Georgia Baptist Convention. He also preached at many revivals in churches across the southeast during his career.
Following retirement, he moved to the retirement home on Lower Meigs Road that he and his wife built several years earlier. Their home was next door to the Old Alligood Place; where-his grandparents and parents lived for many years and not far from the home site where he was born May 5, 1928. In retirement, he continued preaching, holding numerous interim pastor positions at churches in Colquitt and Mitchell Counties. His last interim was at Mt. Zion Baptist, which honored him in 2012 for reaching the milestone of six decades of service. His home church, New Bethel, honored him in October of 2013, presenting him with a certificate of ordination to preach, rectifying an omission from when he first accepted the calling to ministry.
In addition to preaching, he served as a reading mentor at Hamilton School, a service he enjoyed immensely, his family remarked.
He had to give up preaching and his volunteer work due to pulmonary fibrosis, origin unknown, a condition that forced him about four years ago to be tethered to an oxygen tank. His family said that, while sometimes despondent that he could never go further than the green oxygen tubing would allow, he complained little. As the end neared, he kept saying he just wanted to go home, they also recounted.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Vernon Alligood.
Survivors include his wife of nearly 63 years, Elizabeth; five children, Stephen Leon Alligood of Lebanon, Tenn., Larry Lamar Alligood of Augusta; Ga., Miriam Ruth Weeks of Valdosta, Ga., Julia Ann Alligood of Thomasville, Ga., and Carol Beth Alligood of Moultrie.
His fourth child, Julia Ann, was born severely mentally challenged, but he joined his wife in seeking the best for her. That meant, when she was 11, institutionalizing her because Julia Ann required many services she could not receive at home. He always spoke highly of the care his daughter has received from her state caregivers over the years, the family stated. When the family visited Julia Ann, he was usually the only person his daughter would take an interest in.
"They communicated in ways known only to God," his family said.
He is also survived by seven grandsons, Arthur Alligood, Shepherd Alligood, Jacob Weeks, John Weeks, Michael Alligood, Stewart Lucas and Caleb Alligood; two granddaughters, Meredith Conner and Sarah Weeks; two great-grandsons and five great-granddaughters; three brothers, Curtis Alligood, Johnny Alligood and Larry Alligood; and two sisters, Annette Saul and Emily Murphy.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Saturday, June 28, at New Bethel Baptist Church with the Rev. Terrell Ruis officiating, assisted by Mr. Leon Alligood and Mr. Stewart Alligood Lucas. Interment will follow at New Bethel Cemetery. Casketbearers will be Arthur Alligood, Shepherd Alligood, John Weeks, Jacob Weeks, Michael Alligood, Caleb Alligood and Stewart Alligood Lucas.
A native of Colquitt County, he grew up in an area of the county where Alligoods were plentiful. His great-grandfather, D. C. Alligood, settled in the then-heavily forested southwestern portion of the county just before the Civil War. D.C. survived war and typhoid and returned home to raise a family, one son being John Alligood. John, in turn begat Arthur Daniel "Bud" Alligood. All of these Alligood men were farmers, transforming the pine barrens into a patchwork of cotton and tobacco fields.
Jesse, who was raised in the Baptist faith at New Bethel Baptist Church, was the oldest of Bud and Marie Alligood's seven children. After graduation from high school, he yielded to the pastor's call and enrolled at Norman Park College, the first of his family to seek a university degree. There, he met the love of his life, a pretty catch named Elizabeth Ann Hiers, his family said.
He continued on to Mercer University to complete his bachelor's degree, while she returned to her hometown of West Palm Beach Fla. Their romance survived the long distance and in August of 1952, they were married.
Following graduation from Mercer, he continued his theology studies at Southeastern Seminary in North Carolina and afterwards began a preaching career that lasted 60 years. He was pastor at: Leesville Baptist, Leesville, N.C.; Chestnut Mountain Baptist, Chestnut Mountain, Ga.; Patterson Baptist, Patterson, Ga.; Ocilla Baptist, Ocilla, Ga., and Arlington Baptist, Arlington, Ga. After leaving Arlington, he served as area missionary for the Columbia Baptist Association of the Georgia Baptist Convention. From this position, he frequently was a supply pastor for Baptist churches in several counties near Columbus, Ga.
He was the author of commentaries in the Christian Index and also delivered the primary sermon at the Georgia Baptist Convention. He also preached at many revivals in churches across the southeast during his career.
Following retirement, he moved to the retirement home on Lower Meigs Road that he and his wife built several years earlier. Their home was next door to the Old Alligood Place; where-his grandparents and parents lived for many years and not far from the home site where he was born May 5, 1928. In retirement, he continued preaching, holding numerous interim pastor positions at churches in Colquitt and Mitchell Counties. His last interim was at Mt. Zion Baptist, which honored him in 2012 for reaching the milestone of six decades of service. His home church, New Bethel, honored him in October of 2013, presenting him with a certificate of ordination to preach, rectifying an omission from when he first accepted the calling to ministry.
In addition to preaching, he served as a reading mentor at Hamilton School, a service he enjoyed immensely, his family remarked.
He had to give up preaching and his volunteer work due to pulmonary fibrosis, origin unknown, a condition that forced him about four years ago to be tethered to an oxygen tank. His family said that, while sometimes despondent that he could never go further than the green oxygen tubing would allow, he complained little. As the end neared, he kept saying he just wanted to go home, they also recounted.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Vernon Alligood.
Survivors include his wife of nearly 63 years, Elizabeth; five children, Stephen Leon Alligood of Lebanon, Tenn., Larry Lamar Alligood of Augusta; Ga., Miriam Ruth Weeks of Valdosta, Ga., Julia Ann Alligood of Thomasville, Ga., and Carol Beth Alligood of Moultrie.
His fourth child, Julia Ann, was born severely mentally challenged, but he joined his wife in seeking the best for her. That meant, when she was 11, institutionalizing her because Julia Ann required many services she could not receive at home. He always spoke highly of the care his daughter has received from her state caregivers over the years, the family stated. When the family visited Julia Ann, he was usually the only person his daughter would take an interest in.
"They communicated in ways known only to God," his family said.
He is also survived by seven grandsons, Arthur Alligood, Shepherd Alligood, Jacob Weeks, John Weeks, Michael Alligood, Stewart Lucas and Caleb Alligood; two granddaughters, Meredith Conner and Sarah Weeks; two great-grandsons and five great-granddaughters; three brothers, Curtis Alligood, Johnny Alligood and Larry Alligood; and two sisters, Annette Saul and Emily Murphy.
Rev. Jesse L. Alligood, 86, of Meigs, died June 25, 2014 at his home, following a lengthy pulmonary and lung illness that left him, as he once remarked, "like a fish out of water."
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Saturday, June 28, at New Bethel Baptist Church with the Rev. Terrell Ruis officiating, assisted by Mr. Leon Alligood and Mr. Stewart Alligood Lucas. Interment will follow at New Bethel Cemetery. Casketbearers will be Arthur Alligood, Shepherd Alligood, John Weeks, Jacob Weeks, Michael Alligood, Caleb Alligood and Stewart Alligood Lucas.
A native of Colquitt County, he grew up in an area of the county where Alligoods were plentiful. His great-grandfather, D. C. Alligood, settled in the then-heavily forested southwestern portion of the county just before the Civil War. D.C. survived war and typhoid and returned home to raise a family, one son being John Alligood. John, in turn begat Arthur Daniel "Bud" Alligood. All of these Alligood men were farmers, transforming the pine barrens into a patchwork of cotton and tobacco fields.
Jesse, who was raised in the Baptist faith at New Bethel Baptist Church, was the oldest of Bud and Marie Alligood's seven children. After graduation from high school, he yielded to the pastor's call and enrolled at Norman Park College, the first of his family to seek a university degree. There, he met the love of his life, a pretty catch named Elizabeth Ann Hiers, his family said.
He continued on to Mercer University to complete his bachelor's degree, while she returned to her hometown of West Palm Beach Fla. Their romance survived the long distance and in August of 1952, they were married.
Following graduation from Mercer, he continued his theology studies at Southeastern Seminary in North Carolina and afterwards began a preaching career that lasted 60 years. He was pastor at: Leesville Baptist, Leesville, N.C.; Chestnut Mountain Baptist, Chestnut Mountain, Ga.; Patterson Baptist, Patterson, Ga.; Ocilla Baptist, Ocilla, Ga., and Arlington Baptist, Arlington, Ga. After leaving Arlington, he served as area missionary for the Columbia Baptist Association of the Georgia Baptist Convention. From this position, he frequently was a supply pastor for Baptist churches in several counties near Columbus, Ga.
He was the author of commentaries in the Christian Index and also delivered the primary sermon at the Georgia Baptist Convention. He also preached at many revivals in churches across the southeast during his career.
Following retirement, he moved to the retirement home on Lower Meigs Road that he and his wife built several years earlier. Their home was next door to the Old Alligood Place; where-his grandparents and parents lived for many years and not far from the home site where he was born May 5, 1928. In retirement, he continued preaching, holding numerous interim pastor positions at churches in Colquitt and Mitchell Counties. His last interim was at Mt. Zion Baptist, which honored him in 2012 for reaching the milestone of six decades of service. His home church, New Bethel, honored him in October of 2013, presenting him with a certificate of ordination to preach, rectifying an omission from when he first accepted the calling to ministry.
In addition to preaching, he served as a reading mentor at Hamilton School, a service he enjoyed immensely, his family remarked.
He had to give up preaching and his volunteer work due to pulmonary fibrosis, origin unknown, a condition that forced him about four years ago to be tethered to an oxygen tank. His family said that, while sometimes despondent that he could never go further than the green oxygen tubing would allow, he complained little. As the end neared, he kept saying he just wanted to go home, they also recounted.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Vernon Alligood.
Survivors include his wife of nearly 63 years, Elizabeth; five children, Stephen Leon Alligood of Lebanon, Tenn., Larry Lamar Alligood of Augusta; Ga., Miriam Ruth Weeks of Valdosta, Ga., Julia Ann Alligood of Thomasville, Ga., and Carol Beth Alligood of Moultrie.
His fourth child, Julia Ann, was born severely mentally challenged, but he joined his wife in seeking the best for her. That meant, when she was 11, institutionalizing her because Julia Ann required many services she could not receive at home. He always spoke highly of the care his daughter has received from her state caregivers over the years, the family stated. When the family visited Julia Ann, he was usually the only person his daughter would take an interest in.
"They communicated in ways known only to God," his family said.
He is also survived by seven grandsons, Arthur Alligood, Shepherd Alligood, Jacob Weeks, John Weeks, Michael Alligood, Stewart Lucas and Caleb Alligood; two granddaughters, Meredith Conner and Sarah Weeks; two great-grandsons and five great-granddaughters; three brothers, Curtis Alligood, Johnny Alligood and Larry Alligood; and two sisters, Annette Saul and Emily Murphy.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Saturday, June 28, at New Bethel Baptist Church with the Rev. Terrell Ruis officiating, assisted by Mr. Leon Alligood and Mr. Stewart Alligood Lucas. Interment will follow at New Bethel Cemetery. Casketbearers will be Arthur Alligood, Shepherd Alligood, John Weeks, Jacob Weeks, Michael Alligood, Caleb Alligood and Stewart Alligood Lucas.
A native of Colquitt County, he grew up in an area of the county where Alligoods were plentiful. His great-grandfather, D. C. Alligood, settled in the then-heavily forested southwestern portion of the county just before the Civil War. D.C. survived war and typhoid and returned home to raise a family, one son being John Alligood. John, in turn begat Arthur Daniel "Bud" Alligood. All of these Alligood men were farmers, transforming the pine barrens into a patchwork of cotton and tobacco fields.
Jesse, who was raised in the Baptist faith at New Bethel Baptist Church, was the oldest of Bud and Marie Alligood's seven children. After graduation from high school, he yielded to the pastor's call and enrolled at Norman Park College, the first of his family to seek a university degree. There, he met the love of his life, a pretty catch named Elizabeth Ann Hiers, his family said.
He continued on to Mercer University to complete his bachelor's degree, while she returned to her hometown of West Palm Beach Fla. Their romance survived the long distance and in August of 1952, they were married.
Following graduation from Mercer, he continued his theology studies at Southeastern Seminary in North Carolina and afterwards began a preaching career that lasted 60 years. He was pastor at: Leesville Baptist, Leesville, N.C.; Chestnut Mountain Baptist, Chestnut Mountain, Ga.; Patterson Baptist, Patterson, Ga.; Ocilla Baptist, Ocilla, Ga., and Arlington Baptist, Arlington, Ga. After leaving Arlington, he served as area missionary for the Columbia Baptist Association of the Georgia Baptist Convention. From this position, he frequently was a supply pastor for Baptist churches in several counties near Columbus, Ga.
He was the author of commentaries in the Christian Index and also delivered the primary sermon at the Georgia Baptist Convention. He also preached at many revivals in churches across the southeast during his career.
Following retirement, he moved to the retirement home on Lower Meigs Road that he and his wife built several years earlier. Their home was next door to the Old Alligood Place; where-his grandparents and parents lived for many years and not far from the home site where he was born May 5, 1928. In retirement, he continued preaching, holding numerous interim pastor positions at churches in Colquitt and Mitchell Counties. His last interim was at Mt. Zion Baptist, which honored him in 2012 for reaching the milestone of six decades of service. His home church, New Bethel, honored him in October of 2013, presenting him with a certificate of ordination to preach, rectifying an omission from when he first accepted the calling to ministry.
In addition to preaching, he served as a reading mentor at Hamilton School, a service he enjoyed immensely, his family remarked.
He had to give up preaching and his volunteer work due to pulmonary fibrosis, origin unknown, a condition that forced him about four years ago to be tethered to an oxygen tank. His family said that, while sometimes despondent that he could never go further than the green oxygen tubing would allow, he complained little. As the end neared, he kept saying he just wanted to go home, they also recounted.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Vernon Alligood.
Survivors include his wife of nearly 63 years, Elizabeth; five children, Stephen Leon Alligood of Lebanon, Tenn., Larry Lamar Alligood of Augusta; Ga., Miriam Ruth Weeks of Valdosta, Ga., Julia Ann Alligood of Thomasville, Ga., and Carol Beth Alligood of Moultrie.
His fourth child, Julia Ann, was born severely mentally challenged, but he joined his wife in seeking the best for her. That meant, when she was 11, institutionalizing her because Julia Ann required many services she could not receive at home. He always spoke highly of the care his daughter has received from her state caregivers over the years, the family stated. When the family visited Julia Ann, he was usually the only person his daughter would take an interest in.
"They communicated in ways known only to God," his family said.
He is also survived by seven grandsons, Arthur Alligood, Shepherd Alligood, Jacob Weeks, John Weeks, Michael Alligood, Stewart Lucas and Caleb Alligood; two granddaughters, Meredith Conner and Sarah Weeks; two great-grandsons and five great-granddaughters; three brothers, Curtis Alligood, Johnny Alligood and Larry Alligood; and two sisters, Annette Saul and Emily Murphy.
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