Category: 1990

Morris M. Ewing, Jr. passed away in Dallas, Texas on June 19, 2026, at the age of 58.

Born on May 27, 1968, in Atlanta, Georgia. Morris was the son of Nancy O. Ewing and Morris M. Ewing, Sr. He attended The Lovett School, graduating in 1986, earned a bachelor’s degree from Davidson College, and received a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Georgia. He began his career with Peat Marwick, where he earned his CPA designation, later worked in real estate development in Russia and Atlanta, partnered with his father and brother Andrew in a development firm, and concluded his career with CBRE.

More than his professional accomplishments, Morris will be remembered for his generous heart. He was a devoted son, brother, uncle, and friend who always put others first, asking about your day before speaking of his own. Dependable and hardworking, he never considered a job finished until it was done and was a steady source of support for family, friends, and even strangers.

Morris is survived by his father, Morris M. Ewing, Sr.; his sisters, Jenny O’Brien (Terre) and Wendy Belford (Matt); his brother, Andrew Ewing; his niece, Elle O’Brien; and his nephews, Jackson Belford and Casey O’Brien. He was preceded in death by his beloved mother, Nancy O. Ewing. He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that memorial donations be made to HandsOnAtlanta.org or TheTrevorProject.org.

Thomas “JT” Thomas, born on October 16, 1968, in Kumbanad, Kerala, India, departed this life on December 21, 2024, in Allegan County, Michigan. 

JT is survived by his mother, Mary Chacko Thomas; his ex-wife, Anne Marie “Annie” Thomas, and their five children: Hudson, Marykate, Ava, Bennett, and Maxwell. He is also remembered fondly by his sister, Jessica Elizabeth (Ryan) Oliver, along with their four children: Isabelle, Madden, Kate, and Grace. JT leaves behind numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins situated around the world. JT was preceded in death by his father, Vavelikuzhyle (Victor) Thomas.

 JT, known by some as Joe Thomas, attended high school at Ben Lippen School in Asheville, North Carolina and graduated from Newark Academy in Livingston, NJ. He furthered his education at Davidson College in North Carolina before enrolling in medical school at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He completed his residency at William Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan. Throughout his life, he developed a reputation for his generous nature, charismatic personality, and extroverted spirit. He enjoyed reading and memorizing scripture verses and volunteered with various Christian organizations such as Young Life. 

He cherished the time spent with his family, and enjoyed travel and vacations. An enthusiastic sports fan, JT loved playing various sports with his children, especially basketball, and was a faithful supporter of his children’s sports on the sidelines.

In addition to his medical career, JT enjoyed music and spent as much time as he could playing the guitar. He also found pleasure in playing and watching tennis and had a fondness for sports cars.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, January 3rd, 2025 at 2:00pm at Centerpoint Church, 2345 10th St N Kalamazoo, MI 49009. Visitation will be held at the church from 12:30pm to 2:00pm prior to the service. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the family to go towards establishing an education fund for JT’s children. 

Thomas Ross Tolbert, M.D., 54, of Franklin, North Carolina, died peacefully on December 31, 2021, after a five year struggle with melanoma.

Tom was born on October 3, 1967, in Atlanta, Georgia to Julian Hudson Tolbert and Helen Ross Tolbert. He attended Sarah Smith Elementary School and Sutton Middle School. He entered The Westminster Schools in ninth grade where he excelled academically and finished as a National Merit Scholar. He also participated in various extra-curricular activities including the varsity soccer team, musicals, and the Westminster Chorale. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 1985. After graduating from Westminster in 1986, he went on to study at Davidson College where he majored in math as well as completing the pre-med requirements, helped reinstate the Kappa Sigma chapter on campus, sang in the Davidson Chorale, and was a North Carolina Fellow. He graduated Cum Laude in 1990 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

After spending a gap year delivering for Domino’s and working at Georgia Baptist Hospital in Atlanta, Tom attended the Medical College of Georgia graduating with honors in 1994. He did his internal medicine residency at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, serving for an additional year as Chief Medical Resident.

In 1999, he began working as a primary care physician at the Lexington, Kentucky VA Medical Center. While there, he trained medical students and residents as well as serving in various capacities with informatics programming.

In February 2014, he began working at the Franklin, North Carolina Community Based Outpatient Clinic of the Charles George VA in Asheville where he remained a physician until his passing.

On December 27, 1993, he married Laurie Frances Crawford at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. They were blessed with five children born between 1997 and 2009. Dedicated to his family, Tom worked with his wife Laurie to homeschool their children.

Tom loved activities with his family including singing, gardening, cooking, volunteering with course decoration for both the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and the World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park, raising livestock, building small construction projects, and hiking. He also had a lifelong love of road trips, first with his college friends and later with his family.

Tom grew up at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta where he was active in the choir and youth group and participated in a number of mission trips. He and Laurie were members of Second Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, and for years Tom led family worship in the home. In 2015, he and the family began worshiping at Mountain Grove Baptist Church in Franklin, North Carolina where he led Bible studies and participated in worship.

Tom is preceded in death by his father and is survived by his mother, Helen Ross Tolbert, of Atlanta his wife of 28 years, Laurie Crawford Tolbert, and their children Griffin Ross Tolbert, Thomas Jackson Tolbert, Rachel Hilsman Tolbert, Benjamin Llewellyn Tolbert, and Bonnie Frances Tolbert, all of Franklin, North Carolina. He is also survived his brother Julian Hudson Tolbert (Jolene) of York, Pennsylvania, his aunt Susan Ross Sawyer of Atlanta, his cousins Cindy Sawyer Mollard (Roland) and Cathy Sawyer Rice (Scott), his mother-in-law Mabel Griffin Kichline, and numerous nieces and nephews.

There will be a private family graveside service at Arlington Memorial Park on Friday, January 7, 2022, followed by a memorial service at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, Atlanta, at three o’clock. Masks will be required and social distancing is encouraged. There will also be a Celebration of Live scheduled for a later date in Franklin, NC.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Mountain Grove Baptist Church, P. O. Box 1772, Franklin, NC 28744; Water Mission, watermission.org; YMEN, ymenchicago.com; or Answers in Genesis, answersingenesis.org.

Moffitt Family Funeral Care is honored to serve Dr. Tolbert’s family.

Herbert Pierce “Bert” Williams age 52 passed away on August 2, 2021. He was a native of Augusta and had made his home in Milledgeville for the past 23 years and served as Head Coach at Georgia Military College for over 20 years. He was a member of the Milledgeville First United Methodist Church.

Survivors include his wife, Cathy Coffman Williams; sons, Parker Williams and Zach Williams, all of Milledgeville; his parents, Pete and Cathy Williams of Augusta and his brother, Brian Williams and wife Jenny Snead of Miami, FL; a number of other relatives also survive.

The family will receive friends on Thursday, August 5, 2021 from 5 P.M. to 8 P.M. at the First United Methodist Church at 306 Log Cabin Road, Milledgeville.

A celebration of the life of Coach Bert Williams will be held on Friday, August 6, 2021 at 2 P.M. in Northridge Christian Church with Rev. Mac Enfinger and Rev. Stephanie Caldwell officiating.

In lieu of flowers the family has requested contributions to the Bert and Cathy Williams Scholarship fund c/o Georgia Military College 201 E. Greene St. Milledgeville, GA 31061.

Dr. Raymond Howard Thornton of Yorktown Heights, New York, passed peacefully on Thursday, October 1, 2020.

Ray was the son of Howard R. and Kathryn J. Thornton. He graduated from PPHS in 1986 as Class President and Co-Valedictorian and went on to pursue three degrees in piano performance from the prestigious The Julliard School in NYC. While completing his DMA in piano performance, he completed coursework and was admitted to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 

From there, he completed his residency in diagnostic radiology and a fellowship in interventional radiology specializing on diseases of the liver at UCSF. His first physician appointment was at The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he helped numerous patients, guided residents and fellows, handled quality assurance issues, wrote radiology board questions, and presented papers for the NIH in Washington, DC, Japan and various other places. He also taught and practiced at the University of Utah at Salt Lake City and most recently, Cape Cod Hospital. 

Ray is preceded in death by his sweet father, special “Granny” Josephine Dean, and his paternal grandparents (one of whom he was named), and several uncles, aunts, cousins, and close friend, Dr. William O’Byrne.

He is survived by his loving mother and his precious partner of 21 years, John “Chip” Holmes with whom he made his life, along with their two fur babies, Victoria and Tucker.

He is also survived by his “little sister” Dr. Georgia (Dave) Thornton and special niece, “Ray’s Katie,” Dr. Kathryn B. who is following in his footsteps; brother, Donald (Julie), nephew, Aaron (Stephanie, Abigail, Bryce, Carly), and niece, Kristen. 

He is also survived by a special uncle, Gerald  “Biggie”  Thornton, and aunt, Evalee McKinney, as well as loving cousins and a multitude of great friends and colleagues who will miss him dearly. 

Ray enjoyed life—music, reading, gardening– and he lived it to its fullest. It is the family’s wish that all who knew and loved Ray would advocate for better diagnosis and treatment of Lyme Disease and better mental health care of all those working in medicine.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to “The Benefit Fund in Memory of Ray Thornton” at People’s Bank, 421 Main Street, Point Pleasant, WV 25550 sponsored by the PPHS Class of 1986. 

Private graveside services will be held at a later date. 

Arrangements are under the direction of Wilcoxen Funeral Home in Point Pleasant. 

Condolences may be expressed to the family and memories may be shared by visiting www.wilcoxenfuneralhome.com.