J.W. Garrard, WWII Vet, Dies at 92

James W. Garrard, who moved to Powder Springs with his parents in the '30s and served in the Pacific in World War II with his two brothers, died Tuesday. He was 92.

Funeral arrangements from Bellamy Funeral Home haven't been announced yet but will be soon here.

His nephew, 58-year-old Mark Garrard, recalled weekends and summers when he would come visit his grandparents and uncle. J.W. Garrard moved into his Powder Springs home across the street from his parents before the war, and lived there with his wife and two children.

"He loved the fact that he was always living close to his parents," Mark said. “He has always been the happiest.”

Happy because of the simple life, his nephew said. He was a career farmer and carpenter, helping many with building homes around the Powder Springs community.

"He could make anything,” he said, adding that he couldn't pick out one memory in particular because there are "so many it's unbelievable."

Garrard is featured in local photographer Stan Kaady's Town Treasures project.

"J.W. knows more about the area of Powder Springs, Ga. than anyone I’ve met. ... J.W. writes poetry from time to time: short pieces on life, death and victory. Many of his poems give thanks to God," Kaady writes.

"On one afternoon, we sat out on his front porch that overlooks a recently built subdivision across the road, talking about ‘this and that.’ Mostly about ‘that.’  He spoke of a time when doors were left unlocked, neighbors would drop by just to say ‘hello,' and the placing of an egg in the mailbox for the postman because that is what you did when you could not afford the stamp for a letter."

Leave your memories of J.W. Garrard in the comments below.