Bobbie Longwith
Bobbie Calvin Longwith, 93, formerly of LaFayette, Georgia, passed away in his home in Tuscumbia, Al., in the morning of January 23, from complications following a seizure.
He was born in the Plum-Nelly community in Catoosa County, GA, and was raised in Walker and Catoosa Counties where he helped his family share-crop during the Depression. He left home at the age of 13 and worked to attend Berry School where he eventually met his loving wife of 71 years, Mary Frances Higdon Longwith.
Bob Longwith and his wife, Mary Frances were Alaskan pioneers where they began homesteading in the Two Rivers Community on the Chena Hot Springs Road, outside of Fairbanks, Territory of Alaska. They are honored on a bronze plaque with other Alaska pioneers in downtown Fairbanks. In 1967, the family returned to Georgia where they purchased a farm in the Concord Community, near Villanow, GA.
He worked diligently to attain a higher education, and worked as an accountant, a draftsman, a surveyor, and an Engineer, retiring from the State of Alaska to his farm near Villanow. He was very concerned with the effects of induced climate change, and worked to document his research. To make his concerns known, he qualified in 2006 and ran as a Democratic Party primary candidate for Georgia District No. 9 Congressional District.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lonnie and Alzie Swanson Longwith; wife, Mary Frances, daughters: Sharon Rockholt, Deborah Stevenson; sister: Edith Thompson; and brothers: Ben, Bill, and Earl Longwith.
He is survived by daughters: Susan Longwith, Big Lake, AK, Joan (Frankie) Brians, Tuscumbia AL, Judith G. (Jim) Miller, Harshaw WI; sons: James W. (Steevyn Cysewski) Longwith, Tuscumbia AL, John A ((Melody) Longwith, La Fayette GA. 17 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, 1 great-great grandchild, and several nieces and nephews also survive Bob Calvin Longwith.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice.
Funeral procession will meet at Wallis-Wilbanks Funeral Home at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27, followed by a graveside service at Concord Cemetery in Villanow, (Concord Road and Ben Childs Road, Walker County, Ga).