Paul McGee Culpepper, 84, passed away in his home in Acworth, Georgia on Monday, April 15, 2019. Paul was born June 4, 1934 in Jonesboro, Louisiana to Garland McGee Culpepper and his wife Cora Lee Netherland. He graduated from Northwestern State University of Louisiana in Natchitoches in 1956 with a degree in accounting and moved to New Orleans to work for Humble Oil upon graduation.
It was in New Orleans that Paul met Mary Virginia Dorothea Clavier, affectionately known as “Dotty.” Paul and Dotty were married in New Orleans at St. Leo the Great Church on April 19, 1959, and established their home in Metarie, Louisiana, where their sons Gary Michael and Kenneth Scott were born. Paul moved with his family to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1964, where his third son, Greg Steven, was born in 1966. Paul enjoyed playing electric guitar with his legendary band, The Country Hams, and was active in the scouting program and coaching Little League baseball. Paul moved with his family to Germantown, Tennessee in 1979, where he and Dotty became active in square dancing and he assumed a leadership position in the Republican Party of Shelby County.
They moved with their son Greg to Spring, Texas in 1983 and Paul retired from Exxon in 1986. It was then that he and Dotty decided to return to Germantown to begin their antique business, a work that they enjoyed together until 2013, the year that Dotty was diagnosed with cerebral lymphoma. In 2015, Paul and Dotty moved to Acworth, Georgia to live near their son Greg, his wife Natalie, and their son Jansen. Paul’s beloved wife Dotty passed away on November 30, 2015, after which he remained at Dogwood Forest as a resident whose humor and engagement with others made him a much beloved presence in this community. In the final weeks of his life, he entered into fellowship with members of St. Clare of Assisi Church in Acworth. Paul is predeceased by his father, his mother, and his stepmother, Bessie Louviana Barlow, his son Ken, his wife Dotty, and his brother Jack. He is survived by his two sons Gary and Greg; his daughters-in-law Katherine and Natalie; his grandchildren, Marie, Anne, and Jansen; and his sister-in-law, Johnnie Culpepper, and their children and grandchildren.
Family and friends are invited to a visitation on Saturday, April 20th, from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, followed by a Christian burial service at 1:00 p.m.
