Joseph W. (Joe) Porter, 92, of Villa Rica died Thursday, June 28, 2018 in Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica.

He was born in Albany, Georgia on December 9, 1925 the son of the late Ashton Porter and the late Mary Lou Westbrook Porter. He served in the United States Navy during World War II and had lived in this area since 1947. He attended the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, then entered the University of Georgia where he received his Masters Degree and Specialist in Education. He also received his Seminary Degree from Carson-Baldwin University in Jefferson City, Tennessee. He worked for more than thirty-five years with the Georgia State School System as a School Service Worker before his retirement in 1982. During this time, Joe also served as an ordained pastor for a number of churches including Draketown Baptist Church, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Roopville First Baptist Church and Mars Hill Baptist Church, which was the last church he served.  He retired from the ministry in 1985 with more than forty years of service to his God and to the many people he loved so dearly. He had a quiet dignity and a magnetic personality that just naturally touched people in all walks of life, and once you met him you never forgot him. He was very devoted to his wife and family and to the many people, both young and old, who had touched his life in so many special ways during his more productive years. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Villa Rica where in past years he had served as a deacon and taught a Sunday School Class. He was a good example of how each of us should strive to live our everyday life in order to make this world a much better place. He will be greatly missed.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Bobbie Jean Porter; his sister, Floye, and his brother, Amonette Porter; and his sister-in-law, Brenda Camp.

Survivors include his son Joey Porter and his wife, Donna, of Villa Rica; three grandsons, Timothy Ian Porter and his wife, Marisa Mae, Joseph Cameron Porter and Christopher Perry; three great grandchildren, Sylvia Porter, Miles Porter and Little Cameron Porter; a nephew, Jim Howard and his wife, Mary Long, of Atlanta; and his brother-in-law, Jimmy Carnes of Villa Rica.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home Saturday evening, June 30, 2018 from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, July 1, 2018 at 4:00 P.M. from the chapel of the J. Hoyt Thomas Funeral Home with the Rev. Searcy Jackson and the Rev. Don Morrison officiating. Special music will be provided by Ian Porter. Pallbearers will be Mark Camp, Barry Camp, Chuck Conner, Chris Perry, Ian Porter and Cameron Porter. Interment will follow in Hillcrest Cemetery, Villa Rica, GA with military honors conducted by the Honor Guard Team, American Legion Post 143, Carrollton.

Messages of condolence may be sent to the family at www.jhoytthomas.com.

J. Hoyt Thomas Funeral Home of Villa Rica is caring for the Porter family.