William T. Hamner's Obituary
HAMNER, WILLIAM TALIAFERRO
William T. (Bill) Hamner, PhD. retired clinical psychologist, age 93, formerly from Norcross, GA. and Nashville, TN died on October 22, 2017 in Dunedin, FL. Dr. Hamner served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and was assigned by the Navy to serve as a medical corpsman with the U.S. Marine Corps in the South Pacific. He was on Guadalcanal, the Marshall Islands, the Marianna Islands and saw action on Guam. He later received a BA degree from Emory University , Atlanta, and a PhD degree from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. He was engaged in the private practice of psychology in Nashville for eighteen years before his retirement in 1988. He was active in the Brentwood United Methodist Church in Brentwood, TN and the First United Methodist Church of Norcross, GA. Always interested in music, he sang in the Emory University Glee Club, in several church choirs, in the chorus of the Nashville Chapter of Barbershop Quartets, in the Nashville Symphony Chorus and in ProMusica of Nashville.
At Norcross First United Methodist Church, Dr. Hamner worked with the parish nurse as the founder and long-time volunteer director of a respite program, the Sunshine Club, for persons with Alzheimer's disease. He also founded and directed a volunteer musical group, the “Gerry-at-Tricks”, to entertain residents of nursing facilities. This group with another director continues to perform.
Born in Camp Hill, AL, he was the son of the late Ben L. Hamner and Sarah White Hamner. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Mary Alice Adams Hamner. Also surviving is a daughter, Beverly Hamner Burton and her husband, John Burton, Clearwater , FL., grandchildren: Brandt Burton, Clearwater. FL, Lance Burton, US Air Force, Las Vegas, NV, Blaire Burton Foubister and husband, James Foubister, and great-grandchildren, Amelia Rose Foubister, and Declan William Foubister of Bend, OR. He is also survived by an adopted son, Ruben Rosales and his wife Valerie Rosales of Cambridge, MA and their 2 children and 5 grandchildren. Other survivors include a sister Margaret Hamner Utley, Greenville, S.C., niece, Susan Utley of Nashville, TN., nephew, John Utley, Greenville, SC., and his daughter, Lauren, Nashville, TN and a large extended family of cousins and loved ones.
A graveside service will be held at Rose Hill Cemetery, Royston, GA at 1:00 PM on Friday, October 27, 2017. (In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Alzheimer's Association)
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