Obituary: Rev. Claude Haugabook, Jr.

Rev. Claude Green "Ceegie" Haugabook, Jr., age 96, of 215 Walters Street, Plains, died Thursday, April 4, 2024, at Phoebe-Sumter Medical Center in Americus.
 
He was born in Montezuma on February 20, 1928 to the late Claude Green Haugabook, Sr. and Elizabeth Forehand Haugabook.  
 
Ceegie graduated with a degree in business from the University of Georgia in 1950 and returned to Montezuma to the work in his father's oil business. Upon the death of his first wife, Joyce Parks, he felt called to the ministry and enrolled in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, graduating in 1954. After graduation, he joined the South Georgia Methodist Conference and was appointed to serve Salem Methodist Church and other churches in the Americus circuit. He moved into the parsonage in the New Era Community where friends Ellen and John Ansley McNeill introduced him to Allene Timmerman of Plains. On July 20, 1955, they were married and together served churches throughout South Georgia for 34 years. Upon retirement in 1987, they returned to the house of Allene's birth in Plains.
 
Ceegie was a quail hunting southern boy who grew into a deeply spiritual man. He was famous for whistling hymns instead of singing them, primarily because he could not carry a tune. He contracted polio as a child and was left with a significant limp but never let that stop him from enjoying a good game of golf or tennis. He was an organizer and a man who was never without a project. His technological skills far surpassed his age. He used this gift to leave a legacy of his faith and documented family and community histories. He was instrumental in formatting the book, History of Plains, Georgia, and the Plains Historical Preservation Trust newsletter, which he named the Plains Echoes.  He was devoted to the study of religion and published two books of his theological beliefs, Call Me Ishmael and Biblical Methods for Developing Personal Faith. One of his greatest joys as a pastor was establishing a radio talk show in Ocilla called, The Place. This provided a format for youth to discuss the meaning of current hit music. As a videographer he filmed oral histories of the Haugabook and Timmerman families as well as his grandchildren's activities, leaving his family hours and hours of entertainment.
 
He was active at Plains Methodist Church and in is retirement, filled the pulpit as a substitute pastor for local Methodist churches.
 
Survivors include his wife, Allene Timmerman Haugabook of Plains; his daughters, Beth NeSmith (Bill) of Americus and Amy Lockwood (Tom) of Decatur; his grandchildren, Thomas Lockwood (Anna), Daniel Lockwood and Dallas NeSmith; his brother-in-law, Edwin Timmerman (Sarah) of Cairo; his sister-in-law, Janice Haugabook of Montezuma; several nieces and nephews.
 
His only brother, Dick Haugabook, preceded him in death.
 
Funeral services will be held at 2 PM Monday, April 8 in Plains Methodist Church with interment following in Lebanon Cemetery.