Kenneth Seckinger Upchurch

Kenneth Seckinger Upchurch of Decatur, Georgia (and more recently of Athens, Georgia) died on October 27, 2011 at the age of 91. Kenneth was born November 27, 1919, Thanksgiving Day that year, in Springfield, Effingham County, Georgia. He was the youngest child of the late Southwood and Theresia Seckinger Upchurch, and was also preceded in death by his four siblings: Mary Davis Thompson, William Walton Upchurch, South Woodbridge Upchurch, and Helen Poppell. His second wife, Joyce Reeves Hunt Upchurch, died in 2001. Kenneth was a descendant of the Salzburgers, the Austrian immigrant group who settled at New Ebenezer outside of Savannah in 1734.
Kenneth grew up in Springfield and finished high school in Savannah, Georgia. His communications installation job with Western Electric during World War II excused him from active military duty. After WWII, he began his career with Southern Bell Telephone Company in Savannah, the forerunner of AT&T, was promoted to management, and moved to Atlanta in 1955. He made his home in Decatur and retired from Southern Bell in 1976 due to medical reasons.
He married Sarah Evelyn Cook in July 1942 and they had three daughters, who survive him: Sarah Ann Blake (Jerry) of Lilburn, GA, Mary Helen Morris (Howard) of Beaufort, SC, and Christine Neal (Philip) of Greensboro, GA. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, eleven great grandchildren and one great great grandchild. In 1964, he married Joyce Reeves Hunt. Her two children, Melvin Hunt (Karen) of Watkinsville, GA and Laura Hunt Formby (Steve) of Marietta, GA, also survive him. In 2002, Kenneth moved from Decatur to Iris Place Retirement Community in Athens. His declining health required the subsequent move to Family Life Enrichment Center, High Shoals, Georgia, in November 2010.
A private service was held with interment in Floral Hills Memory Gardens, Tucker, Georgia.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a charity of choice.