Don Harrell

Charles Ladon “Don” Harrell was born in Bainbridge, Georgia on New Year's Eve 1944 as people all around the globe gathered to celebrate his birth with parties, dancing, and cocktails, a tradition that Don upheld throughout his life. Born to Grover Cleveland and Johnny Cochran Harrell, Don grew up on a farm in north Grady County, the same farm where he would spend the majority of his life tending the most fertile soil in the south, aka The Promised Land, as he was known to call it to anyone lucky enough to spend a few moments with him. In 1978, he and Fred Collins were the first farmers in Grady County to install new-fangled contraptions called center-pivot irrigations. He measured land for FSA, managed parts for Massey Ferguson, delivered packages for a brand-new business in Cairo called UPS, managed County Line Peanut Mill, and dickered his way through pawn shops and lending institutions as he built a world for himself and his family. Don enjoyed extensive travel throughout the USA including riding around Sturgess on his Harley with a pretty lady on the back named Kearsley. He also traveled to Canada, Mexico, and Europe, including a stint in Germany on the Army’s dime where he spent his days driving officers and troops around in a variety of armored vehicles and jeeps and spent his evenings valiantly guarding all the young ladies from dastardly rascals, such as himself, in local watering holes. During his time in the Army, he served as a loan shark which helped him finance his evening wardrobe, thus beginning a lifetime of being a sharp-dressed man. Along with Joyce Harrell, Don raised two devoted children, Marty Harrell and Alicia Harrell Shirah. They blessed Don with 5 beautiful grandsons: Dustin, Austin, and Garrett Harrell as well as Beau and Ben Shirah. Don enjoyed teaching his grandsons to fish, drive trucks, cuss at cows, and flirt with pretty women. Every Christmas Eve, he would gather them on the floor of his den and distribute the change he had saved from his pockets that year. As they sat in a circle around their granddaddy, each boy would get scoops of coins in his very own Crown Royal bag which Granddaddy had also collected that year. Don died at his home on Thursday, August 21 st , just missing another Friday night spent swinging a pretty lady around the dance floor at The Plaza. Don lived his life on his own terms and had a really good time doing it.