Funeral services for John Thomas Gill, 81, of Lavonia, were held Friday, December 23, 2005, at the Lavonia First Baptist Church with Dr. Larry Finger and Rev. Richard Bielski officiating. Interment was in the Lavonia City Cemetery. He died Tuesday, December 20, in the Stephens County Hospital.

Mr. Gill was a native of Meriwether County and was the son of the late Bessie Shaw Gill and Alton H. Gill. He served as a member of the U.S. Navy Patrol Bomber Squadron VPB-109 in the Pacific during World War II and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with two gold stars. He was a graduate of the University of Georgia and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. He had a long career in banking, retiring in 1990. He was a Master Mason, a member of the Lions Club and the American Legion. He had served on school boards, community initiatives, and development projects. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Lavonia where he served as a deacon.

Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Lucy Nell Hopkins Gill, a native of Wilkes County; two daughters and their husbands, Jane and Jerry Ford, Tampa, Fla., and Peggy and Morris Jordan, Monroe; three sons and their wives, Tommy and Pam Gill, Carnesville, David and Terry Gill, Stockbridge, and Edward and Kim Gill, Camden, S.C.; 11 grandchildren, Jordan and Matthew Gill, Jonathan and Elizabeth Ford, Gil, Andy, Chris, and Lucy Jordan, and Ryan, Cameron, and Taylor Gill; and a sister-in-law, Norma Johnson Hopkins of Washington.