William Byron King, 99, passed away on Friday, December 26, 2014. Graveside funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, December 31, 2014 in New Park Cemetery in Ft. Gaines with Rev. Jeff Hines officiating. A memorial service will be held in the Pavilion at Kingsbridge, 3055 Briarcliff Road, Northeast, Atlanta, GA. 30329 at 2:00 o'clock on Saturday, January 10, 2015 with a reception following.

Mr. King was born September 24, 1915 in Fort Gaines, GA. the son of the late Erasmus Ripley King and Mamie Gay King. He graduated from Fort Gaines High School in 1933; from Young Harris College in 1935; Vanderbilt University in 1937 with a BA; Peabody College in 1947 with a Masters Degree and studied under a John Hay Whitney Fellowship at Columbia University from 1958 until 1959. He taught high school English for thirty one years. He began his career in Hiawassee, then Summerville and then The Rugby Academy in New Orleans, Louisiana. Beginning in 1941, he served in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged at the end of World War II as a Master Sergeant. He then resumed teaching at Fort Gaines High School where, among other accomplishments, he coached the woman's basketball team to a state championship. He next moved to Atlanta and taught at Grady High School for twelve years, then Indian Springs School in Alabama for four years and finished his career at Huntington High School in Huntington, New York. During his teaching career he often took students during the summer months to Greece to study first hand the area where The Iliad, The Odyssey and the Greek tragedies were written, classic works which he taught and emphasized in his classroom. Upon retirement he returned to Georgia and lived with his sister Hortense "Tensie" Fowler until her death in 1996. The two were constant travel companions and visited countries such as Australia, China, Egypt, South Africa, Russia and most European Countries. He lived in Mountain City, Georgia and Fort Gaines, Georgia from 1972 until 2001. In September, 2001 he moved to Kingsbridge Retirement Center and lived there for the rest of his life.

Survivors include nephews, David L. G. King, Jr. (Myrick), of Atlanta, Thomas R. King (Janie) of Burkesville, VA., Michael R. King (Martha) of Seattle, Mark G. King of Raleigh and Gay King (Naomi) of Phoenix and niece, Anne Blomquist (Bill) of Oracle, AZ., fifteen great nieces and nephews and six great great nieces and nephews.

In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Young Harris College, P. O. Box 98, Young Harris, GA. 30582

LUNSFORD FUNERAL HOME

CUTHBERT, GA. 229/732-2148