FAYETTE – Services for Gelonia Jerome Dent, 73, of Atlanta, formerly of Natchez, who died Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008, in Conyers, Ga., will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Forest Grove Baptist Church in Fayette.
Burial will follow under the direction of George F. West Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m. today at the funeral home and from 10 a.m. until service time Saturday at the church.
Mr. Dent was born May 10, 1935, in Fayette, the son of Hamlin Dent Sr. and Ollie Mae Johnson Dent. He was raised in Natchez and was a graduate of St. Francis Catholic School. After completion of high school, he later enlisted in the U.S. Army.
In the mid-60s, Jerome managed King Koil Mattress Company, in New Orleans, and later relocated to Chicago and then to Atlanta, where he accepted a position as plant manager of Englander Bedding Company, becoming the first African American to hold this position. As a district manager and manufacturing contractor, he traveled throughout the United States opening new plants and troubleshooting established plants for several large manufacturers.
The third child of nine children, he was indeed a big brother.
He was preceded in death by his parents; one daughter, Troy Dent; and four siblings, Hamlin Dent Jr., Katie Mae Carter, James Carter and Frank Dent.
He leaves to cherish and celebrate his memory and life, his wife, Amelia; two daughters, Michelle Windom and Gelonia; one son, Jerome; one son-in-law, Bruce; two grandchildren, Brittany Troy Dent Windom and Xavier Bruce Pierro Windom; two brothers, Cornelius Carter and Will T. Carter; two sisters, Delores Carter and Celia Johnson; three sisters-in-law, Mary Dent and Anna Dent, both of Natchez, and Melba Carter of Atlanta; one brother-in-law, Jim Washington of Chicago; and a number of dear cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
He will be truly missed and forever loved.