Mr. Bobby Gene Haggerty's Obituary
Bobby Gene Haggerty was born on September 20, 1939 to John Henry Haggerty Sr. And Mary Alice Abbett Haggerty in Tallapoosa County Alabama. Bobby passed away on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 at his residence of 62 years. Bobby married his lovely bride Gaye Tinney Haggerty on February 14, 1959 on her 21st birthday. They started out their marriage in the cellar at John Henry and Mary Alice Haggerty’s. They started building their house immediately. Their house was the first house with electric heat in the Eagle Creek area. People from all around would come and see it according to Bobby and Gaye. It was there that they raised three children and have lived ever since.
After finishing Dadeville High School, Bobby went on to college. Bobby was 18 years old when he graduated from Alverson-Draughn Business School in Birmingham after finishing a two-year course in 6 months and became a bookkeeper for Dadeville Lumber Company. Bobby would ride to Birmingham each week with Shine Holdridge and stay in a room near campus and then come back on the weekends. Bobby told his family that he started at minimum wage, which was $1 an hour back then. He worked 8 hours a day and it ended up being $44.00 a week because they worked a ½ days on Saturday.
Bobby worked for a total of 50 years and 6 months. He first started out working for Cecil Duffee at Dadeville Lumber Company until it was bought out by E.L. Spencer, so then he worked for E. L. Spencer Lumber Company until it was bought out by Russell Building Supply. During all of those years while he worked for the different Lumber Companies (in the same building) he would always joke that he started out as a nail boy and moved up to the manager. But there is a huge gap of things that often gets left out in the story. Bobby ran the front of the store while longtime friend, Farrell Tidwell ran the back of the store with “Daddy Rabbit”, Calvin and Charles Stone. Later on, when the Spencer’s took over the business, Mrs. Ruth and Steve became staples in the store. They became dear friends to the family and to those that came to the store. Those are the days that he cherished most. Countless people came and went over the years working with Bobby, too many to list. Bobby loved to chat it up with all his customers when they came to the Lumber Company. Customer service was always the most important thing. He never pointed where things were at, he walked and took you there to help you with whatever you needed. And as we all know, there was never a better paint man in the business. He could match any paint you had without a computer.
Bobby officially retired on December 31, 2009.
Bobby did not just wear one hat, most of the time he wore several hats. His wife Gaye was an avid seamstress so making drapes was a pastime for her…and for Bobby that meant making cornice boards for those drapes for people all over Tallapoosa County.
Bobby was also one of the founding members of EMTACT 7, the local volunteer ambulance service for the Dadeville area. Bobby, his wife Gaye, Bill and Emma Jean Thweatt, Farrell Tidwell and a few others ran the local ambulance service. They saw the need for an ambulance service and had a desire to care for people in dire need of medical care, regardless of the time of day or night.
Bobby loved to turkey hunt. It was not uncommon for a row of turkey feet and beards to be lined up in his office for people to see what was killed that season. If it was turkey season you might see a fresh bird on a cardboard box from the morning hunt at the lumber company. Bobby also loved to deer hunt and would go when season would start but only after he worked his half a day on Saturday. Hunting with dogs was the norm back then and he could be found on the CB channel under his handle “2x4 “. Just a play on words for a man that sold 2x4 lumber all the time. But when it came to fishing, Bobby loved it more than any other hobby that he had. Bobby would go fishing with anyone that wanted to “wet a hook”. He loved to fish and would stay out fishing until every fish out there was caught and then and only then would he come home. Crappie was a favorite of his but he loved to catch those “salts” as he called them. The refrigerator at the house still has pictures of several big fish that he caught over the years.
Bobby was preceded in death by his wife, Gaye Tinney Haggerty of 60 years, parents, John Henry and Mary Alice Haggerty, sister, Mary Jane Hamby Burns, father and mother-in-law, Joseph and Mildred Tinney, as well as brother, John (Bug) Henry Haggerty Jr., brothers-in-law Clayton Stanford, Lebron Burns and Leonard McKelvey, nephew Rob McKelvey and niece Amanda Moran Treadwell.
Bobby is survived by his son Tim Haggerty, daughter, Tammy (Dirk) Templeton and son, Terrell (Stacy) Haggerty. Grandchildren, Samantha (Taylor) Roberge, Benjamin (Christi) Templeton, Tiffany (Erik) Hallmark and Ramsey Haggerty. Great-grandchildren, McKenzee Hallmark, Baylie Sears, Rylee Hallmark, Oaklee Templeton, Margot Roberge and Blakeley Templeton as well as his sisters, Lola McKelvey, Anita Haggerty (Bill Hall), and Donna (Larry) Birdwell, sisters-in-law, Alicia Haggerty and Martha Jean Stanford, as well as countless nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held Friday, July 2, 2021 at 11:00 am at the Woods Presbyterian Church (3495 Horseshoe Bend Rd. Dadeville, AL 36853). Interment will be held in the Church Cemetery. Mr. Haggerty will Lie in State from 9:30 am until 10:30 am at the Church. A visitation will be held Thursday, July 1, 2021 from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm at Langley Funeral Home.
The family would like to thank his personal sitters, Daphine Golatte, Brenda Crayton and Dorothy Boleware for all of their help in taking care of and loving their father. Bobby enjoyed their company and was spoiled rotten by the care they provided.
What’s your fondest memory of Bobby?
What’s a lesson you learned from Bobby?
Share a story where Bobby's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Bobby you’ll never forget.
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