George William Hairston, III, 86, of Columbus passed away Wednesday, October 23, 2013 at his home after a lengthy illness. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Funeral Home. Services will be Sunday, October 27, 2013 at 2:00 PM at Memorial Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Clark Richardson officiating. Visitation will be at 1:00 PM. Interment will immediately follow in Shiloh Methodist Church Cemetery in Lamar County, AL, with a brief graveside service and prayer conducted by Calvin Eddie Thurmond, Mr. Hairstons son-in-law. The son of the late George William Hairston, Jr. and Corine Patty Hairston, Mr. Hairston was born August 8, 1927 in Columbus. He attended school in Brooksville and spent six years at Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, TN, graduating from high school in Brooksville. Shortly thereafter he was drafted into the military during World War II. He served a total of nine years in both the US Air Force and the US Navy. Returning to Columbus in 1962, he eventually went to work in the Shipping Dept. of General Tire, retiring in 1990. While at General Tire, he acquired the nickname Bulldog , because he was a big fan of Mississippi State Football and most of his co-workers were Alabama fans. In 1966, he married Jeanne H. McGee, a young widow with three children, whom he embraced as his own. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by one brother Robert E. Bob Hairston. Mr. Hairston is survived by his wife Jeanne M. Hairston of Columbus, two sons Darryl G. McGee and his wife Lisa of Woodbridge, VA, and Roy R. McGee of Columbus and his daughter Deborah M. Thurmond and her husband Calvin Eddie of Shreveport, LA, five grandchildren, five great grandchildren, as well as his nephew Robert E. Bob Hairston, Jr. and his niece Shelby H. Pilkington (Doug), both of FL and a number of cousins. Memorials may be made to the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society, P.O. Box 85, Columbus, MS 39703 or to the donors favorite charity.
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