Gene

Castleberry

Gene Howard Castleberry, 85, of Thomasville, Georgia, passed away on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at Legacy Village in Moultrie, Georgia. Mr. Castleberry was born in Grady County, GA, on August 10, 1938, to the late Heyward M. and Nellie Mae Jenkins Castleberry. He graduated from Cairo High School in 1956 and then served in the United States Army from 1957 – 1965. He married Mary Sue Dempsey on May 19, 1959, and they were married sixty-two years until her passing in 2021. After serving in the Army, he started his construction business building houses throughout the South Georgia area. He served on the board of Rose City Christian School and as a deacon at Trinity Baptist Church and later at Temple Baptist Church. He had a very strong work ethic, which began when he started going to work with his father at the age of eight and continued throughout his life even after retiring from construction. Only after receiving the diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis when he was in his late seventies did he finally begin to slow down and then truly retire. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Thomasville. Mr. Castleberry is survived by his four children: Virgil Howard Castleberry (Lisa) of Cairo, Georgia; William Richard Castleberry (Valerie) of Woodstock, Illinois; Mary Lea Mercer (Donnie) and Victoria E. Castleberry, both of Thomasville, Georgia. Along with his parents and wife, he was also preceded in death by his five siblings: Heyward Mae Robinson, Dorothy C. Gainous, Elizabeth C. Bragg, Sarah Jane Giddens, and Joseph M. Castleberry. As per Mr. Castleberry's wishes, there will be no visitation or funeral. His and his wife's cremains will be entombed at the Tallahassee National Cemetery.