Joseph Lee Heatherly, age 85, passed away Friday, June 12, 2015 in Columbus, Mississippi at Baptist Memorial Hospital surrounded by loved ones. Visitation will be Monday, June 15, 2015 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Gunter & Peel Funeral Home. Services will be at 11:00 AM in the chapel of Gunter & Peel, with Dr. Shawn Parker of First Baptist Church officiating. Interment will immediately at Friendship Cemetery. Mr. Heatherly was born February 3, 1930 in Cullman, Alabama. He was graduated from Cullman High School and St. Bernard College. He was the son of the late Dora Johnson Heatherly and Joseph Roscoe Heatherly. After graduating from college he played baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals minor league for several years and then moved to Birmingham, AL. In 1954 he moved from Birmingham to Columbus, MS as manager of Campbell's 66 Express Trucking Company. In 1961 he opened Heatherly Moving and Storage Company. He later owned United Warehouse Systems, Inc., Creative Sales and Marketing Company, and CSM Recycling Company. Mr. Heatherly has served as a deacon and elder at First Presbyterian Church. He was presently a member of First Baptist Church where he served on the personnel committee and was a member of the Gatewood Sunday School Class. He served as president of the Columbus Junior Chamber of Commerce and was past president and board member of the Columbus Country Club, where he was a member for fifty-three years. He was a charter member of Old Waverly, former member of the Columbus Exchange Club, general manager of the Columbus Red Birds (semi-pro baseball team),and a member of the Alabama Athletic Association. He served as a basketball official in the 1950's for high school and college basketball teams in Alabama, and worked with the industrial development group in helping locate industry to Columbus. He was also a member of the southeastern Warehouseman's Association, a former chairman of the United Van Lines Roundtable, member of Historic Columbus, member of CLOPAC, and the Mississippi Seniors Golf Association. Mr. Heatherly is survived by his wife, Virginia Miller Heatherly; daughters, Jennie Gates Paulding and her husband, Ben, of Columbus; Currie Gates Webster and her husband, Mark, of Escondido, CA; sons, Wade Johnson Heatherly and his wife, Susannah, of Natchez; William C. Gates, III of Columbus; grandchildren, Austin Paulding; Heather Stapp; Wesley, Carolyne, and Byrne Heatherly; Davis, Faith, and Jenna Webster; sister, Nelda Craig of Kerrville, TX; and brothers, Jack Heatherly, of Stuttgart, AR and Randy Heatherly of Cullman, AL. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Robyn Howard Heatherly; son, Joseph Lee Heatherly, Jr.; and brother, Mark Heatherly. Honorary pallbearers will be Bob Howland, James Woodard, Doug Hill, Bob Reynolds, Rick Humphreys, Bob Redwood, B.A. Atkins, Frank Griffin, John Latham, Lilly Grayer, and members of the Gatewood Sunday School Class. Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Columbus, Mississippi, P.O. Box 829, Columbus, Mississippi, 39703, or to the donor's charity of choice.
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