Hazel Hemphill Long

Long, Hazel Hemphill – Hazel H. Long of Decatur, Georgia died peacefully in his sleep on January 30, 2017. Born in Due West, South Carolina on November 6, 1920, he was the son of Edgar Henderson Long, a professor of English at Erskine College, and Agnes Grier Long, the daughter of a Civil War veteran and college president.

He attended public school in Due West and then Erskine College, where he majored in math and graduated in 1942. Three months after graduation, he reported to the U.S. Naval Academy for reserve officer's training, and soon thereafter he began service in the Pacific Theater as a ship's engineer on the battleship Indiana and later on the aircraft carrier Antietam.

At the end of the war, he married his college sweetheart, Belle Smith of Abbeville, SC, and, at the time of her death in 2009, they had been married for sixty-three years. He and Belle soon moved to Atlanta, where he earned a second college degree, this one in Industrial Management, from Georgia Tech. After graduation, he was employed at Plantation Pipeline (now Kinder Morgan) in Atlanta. He worked for Plantation his entire career, retiring as personnel manager in 1985.

He was baptized in the Due West Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and he served the church faithfully all of his life. He helped establish the clergy pension program for the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination, and in 1965 he was elected Moderator, the highest elected office of that denomination. For over seventy years, he was a dedicated member of the Doraville (now Peachtree Corners) A. R. Presbyterian Church. Like many others in that church of Scottish origin, he loved to sing the Psalms, but he also loved folk ballads, love songs from the 1940s, bluegrass tunes, shaped-note hymn singing, and music of all kinds.

Until his eyesight dimmed in recent months, he would read every word of the Atlanta Journal Constitution daily, and he enthusiastically supported Georgia Tech football, the Atlanta Braves, and the Atlanta Falcons, watching as many games as he could. He started a daily scripture reading program, attended by a good number of the residents, at Montclair Assisted Community, which is where he resided at the time of his death.

Hazel Long was loved and respected by many, in his church, in the community, and by his family. The family would like to express special gratitude to the staff at Clairmont Place Retirement Community and at Montclair for their loving care over the last two decades.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, his three brothers, and his wife. He is survived by his two sons, Thomas G. Long of Decatur and his wife Kimberly, and William M. Long of Atlanta and his wife Melanie; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be held at 2:00 p.m., Friday, February 3 at A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home, 2773 North Decatur Road, Decatur, Georgia. The Rev. Dr. Gary Charles will preside, assisted by the Rev. Dr. John Cook. The visitation will be Friday from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Instead of flowers, donations can be made to the Peachtree Corners Presbyterian Church, 5918 Spalding Drive, Peachtree Corners, Georgia, 30092.

Feel free to leave the family your condolences via the guestbook provided.



Funeral Home:
A. S. Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033