Hunter George Weddington (1917 - 2016)

Born 18 Apr 1917 in Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi, United States

Ancestors

Died 13 Jan 2016 at age 98 in Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Obituary

Hunter George “H.G.” Weddington, 98, passed away on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at North Pointe Health & Rehabilitation Center. Born April 18, 1917, Mr. Weddington was a lifelong resident of Meridian and well-known across the Deep South as a business and sports icon. He served his country nobly as a Captain in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and ultimately rose to the ranks of Lt. Colonel.

Mr. Weddington was a loving family man. He took special pride in the accomplishments of his son, Alex Weddington, and his daughter, Lou Weddington Hart, both of whom have made their own indelible marks in the business and sports arenas.

A graduate of Meridian High School, Mr. Weddington was also an alumnus of the University of Mississippi (1935-37) and Yale University (1942-1943). It was at Ole Miss that he first made his mark as one of the most prolific amateur golfers in Mississippi history, never losing a single match while playing for the Rebels. He went on to win the Mississippi Men’s State Amateur championship three times (1939, 1947, 1948) and recorded two other runner-up finishes. In total, he amassed 83 tournament championships in his storied career, including a record number of club titles at his home course, Northwood Country Club. He notched an incredible 30 holes-in-one along the way. In 1983, Mr. Weddington was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, and when his daughter, Lou, was inducted into the Hall in 2007, they became the only father-daughter duo to earn such an honor in Mississippi history. He was also a member of the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame.

Mr. Weddington considered himself like “It’s a Wonderful Life’s” George Bailey “the richest man in town” because of all of his friends.

Mr. Weddington’s achievements on the links were rivaled only by his success in business. His company, General Supply and Machine, was founded by A.B. “Ben” Weddington, Hunter George’s father, in 1913, as the area’s premier distributor of portable saw mills. Over the years the company prospered and diversified under three generations of family leadership – from A.B. Weddington to his sons, Hunter George and Benjamin, to its current president, Alex Weddington. Under the leadership of H.G., who became company president in 1986, and his son, General Supply evolved into a wholesale distributor for HVAC, mill supplies, plumbing, pumps, valves and pipe fitting with customers across the Southeastern U.S.

Known for having a delightful sense of humor and competitive spirit, Hunter George was a marvel of energy and physical stamina for most of his life, regularly putting in a full day’s work at General Supply well into his mid-90s, then playing highly competitive golf on the weekends – still able to shoot in the 60s as an 80-year-old and beyond.

Mr. Weddington had a deep and abiding love for his country. One of his very best lifelong friends was fellow Air Corps officer and many-term Congressman G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery. The congressman and Mr. Weddington often joked about where Hunter George’s only grandchild, Bailey, would attend college – whether H.G.’s beloved Ole Miss or Sonny’s beloved Mississippi State. That debate continues now in Heaven.

Besides serving with honor in the military, Mr. Weddington was a faithful community servant as a Paul Harris Fellow and former president of the Meridian Rotary Club, former president of Northwood Country Club, president of the Mississippi Golf Association, president of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce, served on the boards of the Merchants and Framers Bank, Deposit Guaranty, Choctaw Area Council Boy Scouts of America (troop leader), United Way, Salvation Army, and faithful member and deacon of Meridian First Presbyterian Church. He was also a longtime member of the Meridian Community College Foundation and was honored with the naming of Weddington Hall by the college earlier this year. Weddington Hall houses two of the college’s health occupations programs. Moreover, he was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation in 2008.

Mr. Weddington was preceded in death by his wife, June Alexander (1991). He is survived, as mentioned, by his son, Alex (Ann) and daughter, Lou (Alan) and granddaughter, Bailey. Also, a niece, Claire Hans of Ocean Springs, MS.

Visitation will be held Friday, Jan. 15, from 9-11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Meridian to be followed by funeral services officiated by Rev. Rhett Payne. Graveside services will be held thereafter at Magnolia Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Junior Davidson, Alton Mosley, Chris Smith, Shawn Smith, Dr. Robert Lewis, Dr. Vaughn Rush, Bill Johnson and Dr. Scott Elliott. Honorary pallbearers will be David Rosenbaum, Fletcher Rosenbaum, Mark Porter, Jimmy Crane and Sam Forbet.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M43Z-F11 : 14 December 2015), Hunter G Weddington in household of Albert B Weddington, Meridian Ward 1, Lauderdale, Mississippi, United States; citing sheet 1A, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,820,882.

• "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XM1D-LJK : 8 December 2015), Hunter G Weddington in entry for A B Weddington, 1930.

• "Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK6Q-NWQW : 23 September 2015), Hunter George Weddington, 1935; citing School enrollment, , Lauderdale, Mississippi, United States, Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Jackson.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBSS-L9B : 17 May 2014), Hunter George Weddington in household of A Ben Weddington, Ward 5, Meridian, Beat 1, Lauderdale, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 38-11B, sheet 61B, family 90, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 2039.

• "United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K5QW-BRJ : 22 May 2014), Hunter G Gweddington, Residence, Meridian, Mississippi, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.

• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2S9-XLWN : 15 March 2016), Hunter George Weddington, 2016; Burial, Meridian, Lauderdale, Mississippi, United States of America, Magnolia Cemetery; citing record ID 157041896, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
  • Find A Grave: Memorial #157041896

• Cleveland, R. (2016). Stories abound at celebration of H.G. Weddington's life.