Henry J. Pope, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Exchange Bank (Milledgeville-Gray-Lake Oconee) and Exchange Bankshares, Inc., who has served for over 46 years at Exchange Bank, passed away suddenly on September 22, 2019.
Henry J. Pope began his banking career at Exchange Bank in 1973 while attending college at Georgia College & State University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting in 1976. He continued his education at The Georgia Bankers Association Audit School, The School of Bank Administration at the University of Wisconsin, The Graduate School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University and the National Commercial Lending School at the University of Oklahoma. At the state level, he served as Director of the Georgia Bankers Association and the Georgia Bankers Association Retirement Services Committee. He also served as Vice Chair on the Operations and Technology Committee of the Georgia Bankers Association and was a member of the Board of Directors as well as a representative on the Regulatory and Taxation Committee of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia.
He has been a member of the Exchange Bank Board of Directors since 1992 and has served as Corporate and Board Secretary, as well as Vice President, Secretary and President/CEO of Exchange Bankshares, Inc.
Henry has a long history of significant service to the local community. He was recently inducted into the Georgia College School of Business Hall of Fame and chaired the First United Methodist Church Finance Committee. Henry was also active in the Rotary Club of Milledgeville, Milledgeville Jaycees, and the Georgia College School of Business Advisory Board. He was a former President of the Milledgeville Kiwanis Club, Treasurer of the Milledgeville/Baldwin County Development Authority, Treasurer of the Old Capital Car Club and former past Chairman of the Milledgeville/Baldwin Co. Chamber of Commerce. Henry was always active in his sons’ activities and was a member of the Central Georgia Council Boy Scouts of America, and coached baseball and soccer for the Baldwin County Recreation Department.
Henry is preceded in death by his parents, Henry Jackson Pope, Sr. and Grace Elizabeth Brown Pope; grandparents, Henry Taylor Pope, Maggie Pope, James Charlton Brown, Mamie Brown, father-in-law Otto Conn Morrison, Sr., and brother-in-laws, Jimmy Griner and Otto Conn Morrison, Jr.
Henry is survived by his wife of 43 years, Helen Morrison Pope, his sons Jonathan (Kate), Kevin (Rachel), five grandchildren, Sydney, Kaleb, Jack, Karson and Reagan, sisters Margie Hornsby (Marion), Jackie Griner, Marlene Rehn (Richard), mother-in-law, Pauline Morrison and sister-in-law, Jane M. Sheppard, and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will take place on Thursday, September 26, 2019, from 5:00 – 8:00 pm at the Milledgeville First United Methodist Church at 366 Log Cabin Road, Milledgeville, Georgia. The funeral will be held on Friday, September 27, 2019, at 11:00 am at the Milledgeville First United Methodist Church on Log Cabin Road, Milledgeville, Georgia. The burial will take place at Baldwin Memorial Gardens immediately following the service.
The family requests that donations be made in lieu of flowers to the First United Methodist Church Building Fund, 366 Log Cabin Road, Milledgeville, GA 30161 or to the Henry Jackson Pope, Jr., Memorial Scholarship, GC&SU Foundation, College Box 96, Milledgeville, GA 31061.
Moores Funeral Home & Crematory has charge of arrangements.