Dear Editor,

It has been said many times, you can count your best friends on one hand but you just might wind up with only four fingers.

Dr. John (Jack) King Jr., a long-time ophthalmologist of Thomasville and one of my best friends for the last 58 years, died this past week at age 94. Jack was more than a friend.  He was my earliest acquaintance when I arrived in Thomasville in 1963 as head of the Chamber of Commerce. Jack was a long-time community worker and supporter, in addition to being part of a group of four others, known only as the “Five Old Geezers. “This group consisted of Jack Kelly, Bill Holbert, Everett Herring, Jack King and myself.  We informally came together before retiring. After retirement, we began meeting each Tuesday for lunch and with our wives, dinner on Fridays or Saturdays. For more than 30 years, we never had a moment of enmity between any one of us.

Our wives and the group entertained one another in their homes, as well as going on trips to the mountains on occasion. Seldom did anyone miss the lunch or dinners each week. The collegiality of the group was intense but other friends, called intruders, were always welcome to join the us and they did so on a regular basis.

Jack King, a Christian, historian and photographer at heart, leaves a lovely wife Clarice and two sons, Mark and Robert and his wife Susan. He will be remembered and missed.  Unfortunately, all of the group except myself have passed on but the memories and goodwill created will remain strong in perpetuity.

Space does not allow me to expand on our experiences but in the coffee houses and cafes around town the legacy of the “Five Old Geezers” lives on. 

Lloyd Eckberg

Thomasville