Wednesday
December 25th, 2024
2:28PM
Al Fleming used to say, “Every day I wake up and I’m NOT at Larry Banister’s Funeral Home, it’s a great day!”
On Thursday, December 15th, 2016, surrounded by grandchildren, children, step-children, and the love of his life: his beautiful wife Janet, Allen William Fleming, Sr. was lifted into the arms of God as the last notes of “Amazing Grace” drifted from the lips of his loved ones.
Ironically, he was then transferred to….his friend Larry Banister’s Funeral Home. He was 90 years old.
Al Fleming used to say that he did NOT buy green bananas, because he just didn’t know if he would be around long enough for them to ripen…but he was.
At 80 years old, he decided to celebrate his birthday by jumping out of a “perfectly good airplane” and he joyfully and successfully kissed the ground upon landing.
At 84 years old, he made the decision to return to college and complete his Bachelor Degree-no easy feat because he had to locate all of his prior transcripts from UGA, Monmouth College, and others from the 1940s-who knew they kept transcripts that long?
At 88 years old, Allen William Fleming, Sr. proudly accepted his Bachelor Degree in English Literature from North Georgia College and University. He did not, as he swore to 11 Alive reporter Matt Pearl, throw his “*&^% laptop in the Dahlonega reservoir” upon completion of his college education.
Al Fleming was a WWII veteran and a beloved father of five, who enjoyed a successful career as an advertising executive with Sears, Roebuck and then owned his own advertising agency, Lacey and Fleming, located in Tampa, Florida. There, he raised his four daughters and one son with first wife Helen Anderson Fleming in their home on Davis Islands.
He moved to Dahlonega, Georgia to “retire” but no. He found The Holly Theater and there, he fell in love with acting and with Janet. Although he took her to see Saving Private Ryan on their first date, she decided to keep him, and theirs was a love story for the ages.
He is survived by his wife, Janet Dunn Fleming; five children, Jim and Kristie Fleming Walker, Tavares, FL,
William and Amelia Gay Fleming Nix, Lawrenceville, GA, Allen William Fleming, Jr. and Theresa Fleming, Marietta, GA, Gary and Anita Anne Fleming Petherick, Canton, GA, and Tom and Juliann Fleming Angert, Roswell, GA; five step-children; Timothy and Diane Quigley, Dahlonega, GA, Jimmy and Debbie Simmons, Oxford, MS, Jimmer and Janet Dunn, Caledonia, NY, Tom and Susan Dunn, Alpharetta, GA, Mark and Gerri Dunn Davis, Gardener, KS; beloved brother, Julian D. Fleming, Cumming, GA; 22 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren. Numerous other relatives also survive.
Memorial services for Al are scheduled for 11 AM Thursday December 29, 2016 at Dahlonega United Methodist Church.
Pastor Steve Schofield will officiate.
Online condolences may be made at www.banisterfuneralhome.net.
Banister Funeral Home in Dahlonega, GA is in charge of the arrangements.
