John William Williford Sr (1922 - 1992)

Born 3 Aug 1922 in Georgia, United States

Ancestors

Died 13 May 1992 at age 69 in Elbert County, Georgia, United States

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Biography

John was born in 1922. He is the son of Robert Williford and Arza Christian. He passed away in 1992.

Obituary^[1]

Judge John W. Williford Sr. of Elberton, a visiting senior judge of DeKalb Superior Court who presided in headline-making trials and delayed a former governor's pension, died of heart failure Wednesday at Elbert County Hospital. He was 69.

Judge Williford had been able to try only one case this year because his health had steadily declined since he had gall-bladder surgery two years ago.

The funeral will be at 11 a.m. today at Hicks Funeral Home in Elberton with burial at Forest Hills Memorial Park there.

He was a Superior Court judge of the Northern Judicial District -Elbert, Franklin, Hart, Madison and Oglethorpe counties - from 1964 to 1977. After losing a bid for re-election, he agreed to become, for three months, a visiting senior judge of the Cobb County Superior Court, which had a crowded docket after Judge Luther Hames fell ill. However, Judge Williford's temporary employment kept getting renewed by the Cobb County Commission, and he stayed five years, from 1977 to 1982.

After a few months' respite, he was invited by DeKalb County to help with a backlog there, and he served as a visiting senior judge of DeKalb Superior Court from 1982 until his death.

While he was a Cobb judge, he and his wife spent five days a week in an apartment there. While in DeKalb, he commuted from Elberton.

A colorful jurist who once drew a .38-caliber pistol from his bench and held it up to silence a noisy defendant, he presided in publicized trials in the metro area.

Among them were the 1978 Cobb County gambling conspiracy cases known as the "Super Bowl VI trials"; the 1980 trial in Cobb of Kyla Bennett, who was acquitted by a jury of charges she conspired to murder her husband; and the 1981 Cobb trial of Floyd Hill, who was convicted of murdering a police officer and sentenced to death.

For Judge Williford, meting out justice in capital cases "tore him apart," said his wife, Tina Goss Williford. "His philosophy was law and order, but he had such a tender heart that when he had to sentence people to the chair, it broke his heart. This is why I think he didn't live to be 80."

Smoking and singing were two of the judge's passions. He ordered cigars from a New York dealer and had received a shipment the day before he died. He had a bass baritone voice that helped him earn a music degree from Berry College, and he sang solos in the choir at the First Baptist Church of Elberton until a few years ago.

"He had charged so many juries, and smoked so many of those cigars, that his voice had gotten a little raspy," said his wife.

He was a visiting judge in Gwinnett County in 1984 when he ruled that George D. Busbee, Georgia governor from 1975 to 1982, was not entitled to a $57,000 pension. The former governor was seeking the pension under an involuntary separation clause because he had been limited to two terms. He later amended his pension request.

John William "Billy" Williford was born Aug. 3, 1922, in Madison County, the son of a storekeeper and farmer. His family later moved to Elberton.

He graduated from Berry College in 1941; served in the Navy in World War II, in 1942-46, reaching the rank of lieutenant; and graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in 1946.

He was a member of the law firm of Williford and Grant and was Elbert county attorney before becoming a judge.

At his death, Judge Williford was executive director of the Elberton Housing Authority. He was also a former member of the executive committee of the Georgia State Council of Superior Court Judges; a former president of the Elbert County Chamber of Commerce; a former member of the board of the First National Bank in Elberton; and a former member of the board of visitors of Walter F. George School of Law.

He was also a contributing author for the Georgia State Bar Journal; former coach of a 1963 state championship senior league baseball team; and a former chairman of the board of deacons and a Sunday school teacher at the First Baptist Church of Elberton.

Surviving are his wife; a son, John W. Williford Jr. of Fort Worth, Texas; two daughters, Debbie Thornton of Elberton and Vicki Dixon of Greenville, S.C.; and four grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requested donations to First Baptist Church, Elberton, Ga. 30635.

Sources

1. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA) - Friday, May 15, 1992

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:34XT-NT2 : accessed 12 July 2015), J William Williford in household of Arzie Williford, Brookline, Madison, Georgia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 0006, sheet 4B, family 75, line 77, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 374; FHL microfilm 2,340,109.

• "Georgia World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1897-1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2MY-YZ6 : accessed 29 July 2015), John William Williford, 1941; citing Savannah, Chatham, Georgia, National Archives and Records Administration, Morrow.

• "Georgia Death Index, 1933-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4S4-Q89 : accessed 29 July 2015), John W Williford, 13 May 1992; from "Georgia Deaths, 1919-98," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2001); citing Elbert, Georgia, certificate number 019735, Georgia Health Department, Office of Vital Records, Atlanta.

• Cemetery marker [1]

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