Theodore Paul "Ted" Banks

Ted Banks, age83, who retired as Assistant Director of the Georgia Income Tax Division, died Sunday, January 13, 2008 at his home in Stone Mountain following a brief illness.  He was preceded in death by his son, Theodore Alan Banks.  Survivors include his wife, Myra Harris Banks; daughter, Lynn Messner and her husband, George; son, Timothy Banks and his wife, Barbara; daughter-in-law, Nancy Banks; brothers and sisters-in-law, Marshall A. (Dusty) and Marjorie Banks and Monroe (Eddie) and Mary Frances Banks; sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Bob Mathis; grandchildren, Lauren Banks, Travis Banks, Ted Banks and Tyler Banks; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, David and Sue Harris and Joel and Claire Harris; sisters-in-law, Eloise Martin and her husband, Bob, Sandra Bodeman and Ruth Harris; many nieces and nephews.  In the early days of President Kennedy's Peace Corps, Mr. Banks served as Deputy Peace Corps Director in Colombia and later as Director in Uruguay.  During World War II, Mr. Banks was commissioned at 19 and served as navigator on a B-29 bomber and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal with three clusters, the Distinguished Unit Citation and six battle stars.  Ted Banks attended Boys High School and was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Emory University and later earned his master's degree from Georgia Tech.  Before the Peace Corps, Mr. Banks worked 13 years at Delta Air Lines in Atlanta.  He later served on the administration staff at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and at Emory University in Atlanta.  After retiring from the State of Georgia, he worked as a volunteer in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, with the Red Cross, at Zoo Atlanta and at Fernbank. Mr. Banks requested that "his friends donate a kind word to everyone they meet today."  Funeral services will be held at 11 AM Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at Briarlake Baptist Church with Dr. Tommy Farrell and Rev. Larry Sullivan officiating.  Those desiring may send contributions to Briarlake Baptist Church.  The family will receive friends from 4 to 7 PM Tuesday at A. S. Turner & Sons.