John Marvin Hood

JOHN MARVIN HOOD, age 90, died May 14, 2010, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was born near Sautee, in Nachoochee Valley, White County, Georgia in 1920. His father was William Leonard Hood, and his mother was Ethel Edna Lyon Hood. He attended Young Harris College on a baseball scholarship and later graduated from Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia. He served as an U.S. Army Officer in World War II and retired as a Lt. Colonel in the reserves. During active duty in WW II: he completed officer training at Ft. Benning, GA; he helped train Japanese-American troops at Ft. McClelland, AL; was stationed in the Philippines for the invasion of Japan; and later served in the occupation forces near Tokyo, Japan. During the Korean War he was again called to active duty. He began his civilian career as a school principal and teacher in Helen, Georgia. He later worked in the unemployment compensation section of the Georgia Department of Labor, assigned to Columbus, Georgia. He also worked for the U.S. Department of Labor in Atlanta, Georgia, and he subsequently retired from both his state and federal civil service careers. In 1942, he married Sara G. Dyer, from near Blairsville (Choestoe), Union County, Georgia. She predeceased him in 2001. He is survived by: sons, Dr. Hugh M. Hood and Jack B. Hood, Esq., of Birmingham, Alabama, and respective daughters-in-law, Loretta Morton Hood and Patricia Perry Hood; daughter, Patsy Hood Burke, of Spring, Texas; seven grandchildren, Richard Jeffrey Hood, of Norfolk, VA; Sara M. Hood and Laura C. Hood of Birmingham, AL; Christopher Douglas Holly of Tucson, AZ; Stephanie Leigh Bradley of Gilbert, AZ; Caroline Elizabeth Walker of Spring, TX; and Samuel Westfall Holly of Cave Creek, AZ; and including great grandchildren, Megan, Owen, and Dylan Holly of Tucson, AZ; Maya Jane Bradley of Gilbert, AZ; and Walkin E. Cleage of Birmingham, AL. Family visitation will be held at the Whitfield Funeral Home, North Chapel, 245 Highway 441 South, Demorest, Georgia 30535 at 1:00 p.m., on Wednesday, May 19, 2010, to be followed by a funeral service at 2:00 p.m. His burial will be at 3:00 p.m. at Yonah Memorial Gardens, Highway 441 South, Demorest, Georgia 30535 (adjacent to the funeral home). Those lives he touched will always remember this hard working and humorous man; his laughter and generous, loving nature will be greatly missed. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to your local hospice or the American Cancer Society. Those who wish to express condolences to the Hood family may do so by visiting www.whitfieldfuneralhomes.com. Arrangements are in the care of the Whitfield Funeral Home, North Chapel, Demorest, Georgia. (706) 778-1700