James Ansley Granade, Jr.

Dr. James Ansley (“Jim”) Granade, Jr., 81, died on January 29, 2024. Born in Washington, Wilkes County, Georgia, he was predeceased by his parents, Elizabeth Lunsford and James A. Granade, Sr.

He was a 1960 honor graduate of Washington-Wilkes High School and a 1964 graduate of the University of Georgia. During college he met his future wife and love of his life, Janet Louise Riley of Decatur, Georgia. Janet and Jim were married in 1964. Jim graduated first in his class from Emory Dental School in 1968, after which he opened a dental practice in the Northlake – Tucker area that still operates today as LaVista Dentistry. He retired from the practice of dentistry in 2020, and returned full-time to his roots on the family’s Wilkes County farm.

Jim was an active member of his community. He was a member of Smoke Rise Baptist Church where he served as a deacon, member of the finance committee, and member of the Discovery Class. He was a Georgia Dental Association Honorable Fellow; Georgia Dental Insurance Association Services board member; Northern District Dental Society officer; Georgia Dental Education Foundation member; fifty-year member and former executive council member of the Hinman Dental Society; Emory Dental Alumni Society trustee; Emory University Alumni Board of Governors member; charter member and past-president of the Northlake (now Tucker) Rotary Club; Mainland Advisory Council for Hawaii Baptist Academy; University of Georgia Alumni Society, President’s Club member; Sons of the American Revolution, Kettle Creek Chapter vice president; and Kettle Creek Battlefield Association. He was awarded the Emory Alumni Meritorious Service Award in 2006. He was a Fellow of the American College of Dentists, the International College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He was honored as the Dentist of the Year for the Northern District Dental Society in 2009.

Jim enjoyed traveling with his family and enthusiastically supporting the hobbies and interests of his children and grandchildren. He had a lifelong devotion to his family farm in Wilkes County where he could indulge his interests in forestry, collecting antique cars and tractors, woodworking, photography, and his many building projects. His farm was a Georgia Centennial Heritage Farm, and the Georgia Tree Farm Program 2018 Tree Farm of the Year.

Jim is survived by his loving wife, Janet; children, Dr. James A. Granade III and Darlene Reagan of Atlanta, Jonathan R. Granade and Samantha Granade of Brookhaven; sister and brother-in-law, Nancy Granade and David Snell of New York; grandchildren, James A. Granade IV, Ansley M. Granade, and Riley E. Granade; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Elsie and William Purcell of Decatur; niece Melanie Purcell of Stone Mountain; and nephews Jeff Purcell of Stone Mountain and Richard Bastuck of Colorado; and a host of his children’s and grandchildren’s friends who called him “Dad” and “Granddaddy.”

Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 3, 2024, graveside at Resthaven Cemetery, 460-498 Gordon St., Washington, Georgia 30673. The family will receive friends at a reception following the service at "The Barn" at Granade Farms.

A Memorial Service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, February 9, 2024, at Smoke Rise Baptist Church, 5901 Hugh Howell Rd., Stone Mountain, Georgia 30087.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations be made in Jim’s name to either Smoke Rise Baptist Church, 5901 Hugh Howell Rd., Stone Mountain, Georgia 30087; Greater Atlanta Dental Foundation, 6134 Poplar Bluff Circle, Suite 101, Peachtree Corners, Georgia 30092; or Kettle Creek Battlefield Association, P.O. Box 729, Washington, Georgia 30673. Arrangements by Hopkins Funeral Home, 416 E. Robert Toombs Ave., Washington, Georgia 30673.