Thomas Bertram Lance,

Thomas Bertram Lance, Sr., age 82 passed away on Thursday evening, August 15, 2013 in Calhoun. Bert was born on June 3, 1931 in Gainesville, GA. He was the son of the late Thomas Jackson Lance and Annie Rose Erwin Lance. Bert was a graduate of Calhoun High School, graduate of The LSU School of Banking, Rutgers University School of Banking, attended Emory University and the University of Georgia, and was a trustee of Young Harris College. He was a member of the Calhoun First United Methodist Church where he taught the Jack Lance Sunday School Class for more than fifty years. Many remember Bert as our hometown banker; the state knew him as director of the Georgia Department of Transportation serving under then Governor Jimmy Carter. He was a democratic Candidate for Governor of Georgia in 1974. After the 1976 Presidential Election, President Jimmy Carter asked Bert to become his National Director of the Office of Management and Budget. He was always willing to serve whether it was his community, his state or his nation. He was preceded in death by parents, his son, Beverly Lance, his sister, Alice Rose McAfee and two brothers, Robert Park Lance and Jack Junior Lance. Survivors include his wife, LaBelle David Lance to whom he was married on September 9, 1950; three sons, Thomas Bertram Lance, Jr. and his wife Melba, David Lance and his wife Barbara all of Calhoun, and Rev. Stuart Lance and his wife Betsy of Norwood, Georgia. Fourteen grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren as well as a number of nieces and nephews also survive. Funeral Services will be conducted on Saturday, August 17th at 3:00pm from the Calhoun First United Methodist Church with President Jimmy Carter, Dr. Bob Hoffman, Dick Inman, Jim Minter and Dr. Don Harpe officiating. Burial will follow in Fain Cemetery. Grandsons will serve as Pallbearers and include Thomas Bertram Lance, III, David Jackson Lance, Jr., Clifford Thomas Lance, Stuart Lance, Jr., Dustin Lance, Gerald Ball, Harrison Lance, Thomas Jackson Lance and Robert Lance. Honorary Pallbearers include members of the Jack Lance Sunday School Class as well as Bob Shaw, Tom Caldwell, Tom Johnson, Mark West, Ed Elson, J. Mack Robinson, Bobby Kahn, Jim McEntire, Cathy Cox and Terry Adamson. The family will receive friends on Friday from 4:00 – 7:00pm at Thomas Funeral Home. Visitation will be held from 1:00 – 3:00pm on Saturday at the church. Donations may be made to the Bert Lance Fund at the Gordon Health Care Center @ 1280 Mauldin Road, Calhoun, GA 30701 or to the Shepherd Spinal Clinic @ 2020 Peachtree Road, N.W., Atlanta, GA 30309-1465. Thomas Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for Thomas Bertram Lance.