I persuaded Mom and Dad to come to Albany, Georgia in 1966 and make there home there near Frank's family and mine. They had never actually owned a home of their own and

I knew they liked our part of the Country and our way of life in Albany, having visited there on several occasions. They agreed to make the move and bought a small home with a good size plot of land for a garden, close to the Methodist Church and in a good residential area. Right off the bat Dad became involved in church and civic activity. He was one of two members of the American Rose Society in Albany; he became a lay preacher at Ponerfield United Methodist Church; he became active in the Men's Garden Club of Albany and he struck up acquaintances with professors at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton and Andrew College in Cuthben, Georgia. Shortly after he moved to Albany he volunteered to help at Good Will Industries and he spoke regularly to the handicapped people who worked there. He traveled to rural churches in such locals as Sales City and Pavo and other small towns in Southwest Georgia. The altar at St. Teresa's Catholic Church and the Sanctuary at Ponerfield Methodist, as well as those of other churches in Albany, were often "beautified" with flowers from Dad's garden. His neighbors, family and friends were frequently left with produce from his vegetable garden and fruit from his many plum, pear and peach trees after one of his visits. Family gatherings ... picnics, graduations, weddings, Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as birthday celebrations delighted him.

In the latter years of his life Dad enjoyed his many trips with me throughout South Georgia calling on clients of my truck leasing business. He always took his camera along and I remember one time when we went to visit a customer in Hazlehurst, Georgia when that camera caused him a little embarrassment. It was like this: Dad and I walked up the the main entrance of Hazlehurst Mills, a division of Amoco Fabrics, to call on the head of that company's transpiration department, a man about Dad's age whom he had met on one of our previous trips. The camera hung by a strap around Dad's neck and when we walked by the guard, he stopped Dad and asked him to hand over the camera -- wow! In big companies like that competitors often send spies to steal plans or take pictures of machinery that they think they might make use of in their own production; that's the main reason a company posts a guard to be on the alert to that sort of espionage. Of course Dad was no spy but he was embarrassed because he had been, in this instance, thoughtless in his estimation. He was very apologetic to Mr. Skelton, my customer, when we went into his office and he asked him to have lunch with us. This was typical of my father ... he became friends with many of my customers and they liked to have him come with me when I called on them. The fact that Dad went with me as often as we could manage gave me a great deal of pleasure and I reminded him of the times I had tagged along with him on his rounds as a County Agent, when I was just a small boy.

As I have stated, Dad enjoyed family gatherings. His last was at Thanksgiving in 1978.

The whole family was together in our home in Albany on Thursday November 23. Dad said the blessing and seemed to be in good health; although, as I think back on it, I remember that he looked and acted a little tired. When he and Mom were leaving he asked Dan Ross, whom he loved dearly, to take him to the grocery store Saturday morning before he, Estelle and Jeffery returned to their home in Savannah. Dan went over and picked Dad up around eight thirty or nine 0' clock that morning and the two of them went shopping; then Dan took Dad home and they said good bye to each other. That night, Saturday November 25, 1978, Ralph Reeves Will, Sr. had a heart attack and died instantly at his home. Mom called Gloria and me and I rushed to his side immediately, but it was too late!

When Dan came to the funeral, a few days after Dad's death, he brought with him the.