Sam Pittman "Sammy" Tyson

Sam Pittman “Sammy” Tyson, 83, died at his residence on Tuesday, May 16th after a series of strokes over the past 5 ½ years. His graveside service will be at Crown Hill Cemetery in Albany on Friday, May 19th, officiated by Rev. Josh Copron and his wife Brynn. It will be a private service, attended by immediate family and relatives. Sammy was born in Albany on February 11, 1940 to Arthur Franklin Tyson and Pauline Dozier Tyson. He was the first baby born at Phoebe Putney after the massive tornado of February 10, which decimated much of the downtown area. He graduated from Albany High School in 1958 and briefly attended Gordon Military College before joining his family’s 3rd generation timber business. They logged hardwoods across the plantations, swamps, and private plots of land of Southwest Georgia. For the last 32 years of his career, he worked in the dairy industry. A voracious reader, he was enthralled by the biographies of Civil War generals, with emphasis on Lee, Jackson, Davis, A.P. Hill, and Albert Sidney Johnston. Their personalities, rivalries, and military acumen fascinated him. While they were young, Sammy took his children, nieces, and nephew to visit multiple Civil War battlefields in the South. He steeped them in the battle campaigns, skirmishes, and strategies. In prior decades, he relished teaching Sunday School to junior high and high school classes, imparting them with his vast Biblical knowledge. Most recently, he attended Grace City Church of Leesburg. His preferred pastimes were identifying bird species; fishing with his sons in the Florida Panhandle; and watching World War II documentaries and old Westerns on TV. Sammy was preceded in death by his parents; his brother Charles Dozier Tyson, Sr. and an infant brother James Arthur Tyson; his sister-in-law, Margaret J. Tyson; his brother-in-law Charles Brem Gramling, III; and two nephews, Charles Dozier Tyson, Jr., and Charles Brem Gramling, IV. He is survived by his wife Jeanie Gramling Tyson, whom he married in July of 1963. They were 72 days shy of their 60th wedding anniversary. He is survived by 4 sons, a daughter, and their families: Zachary Arthur Tyson, his wife Helda B. Tyson, and their children William Arthur Tyson and Margaret Elizabeth Tyson; Paul Lane Tyson and his wife Daiquiri L. Tyson and their daughter Scarlett Forsythia Tyson; Richard Lee Tyson and his wife Mikki C. Tyson; Amy Leigh Tyson; and Charles Jacob Tyson. He is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Mary Farley Gramling and Mary Lewis Gramling, a bevy of cousins and nieces as well as a nephew. Those desiring may make donations to the Legacy Building Fund at Grace City Church, 294 Oakland Parkway, Leesburg, Georgia 31763. Kimbrell-Stern is handling all details.

Sam Pittman "Sammy" Tyson

February 11, 1940 - May 16, 2023