Garland Gilliam (9-8-22) service 9-17-22
Garland Gilliam, 98, of Savannah, passed away on Thursday, Sept. 8, in Savannah. He was born on Dec. 1, 1923, in the East Stone Gap Community of Wise County, Virginia. He is the son of the late Harburn and Louise M. Bowen Gilliam.
He was united in marriage to Mary Ella Young, who survives, on May 26, 1945.
Mr. Garland retired from Savannah Tractor where he was the owner from 1965 until 1988. He also worked for Kerr and Harrison Imp. Company from 1951 until 1965, and Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Y-12 Manhattan Project, from 1942 until 1946.
He was a member and elder at Olivet Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Savannah.
He was a loving husband to Mary for 77 years, a loving father to his daughter Judy, and a loving grandfather to Chad Lard and Cindy Lard. He loved his great-grandsons, Gilliam Lard, Giles Lard and Garland Lard.
Garland was one of 13 children. He grew up around coal mining camps in Virginia and East Tennessee. He went to work on the Atomic Bomb in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and met and married his wife Mary in 1945.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Ella Gilliam of Savannah; daughter, Judy Bruce and her husband Jack of Florence, Alabama; sisters, Shirley Waycaster of Johnson City, Tennessee and Joann Compton of Kingsport, Tennessee; brothers, Ralph Gilliam of Somerset, Kentucky, Lenny Gilliam of Johnson City, Tennessee, and Mac Gilliam of Kingsport, Tennessee; grandchildren, Chad Lard and Cindy Lard; great-grandchildren, Gilliam Lard, Giles Lard, and Garland Lard; and a host of nieces and nephews that loved him very much.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brothers, Author Gilliam, Oscar Gilliam, Harlan Gilliam and Verlin Gilliam; and sisters, Hazel Ryans, Pearl Forbes and Lassie Gilliam.
Services will be held on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 11:00 a.m., at Olivet Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Savannah, with Mitch Boulton, Greg Young, Jeannie Majors and Chad Lard officiating. Burial will follow at Mt. Hermon Cemetery in Savannah.
