Dr. Terrell Benson Tanner of Ellijay died March 3 at home after suffering a heart attack. He was born 1932 in Clermont. He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred Homer Tanner and Alice Haynes Tanner, and his first wife Jane Davidson Tanner. Dr. Tanner grew up in Commerce and graduated from Oxford College, Emory University and Emory University School of Medicine in 1959.

He served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Navy before entering private practice in Hartwell. He practiced in Gatlinburg, Tenn., for 7 years before returning to Georgia and practicing family medicine in Oxford for two decades.

After retiring from family practice, he was employed by the Medical College of Georgia in their prison health division. He was a Charter Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and served as president of the Southern Medical Association. He held many leadership positions in every community where he lived, including service on the Board of Trustees at Salem Camp Ground for nearly three decades. Dr. Tanner was always active in service to his church, most recently as a member of the Cartecay Baptist Church in Ellijay.

Surviving are wife of 39 years Martha Cash Tanner; children William Davidson Tanner, Sarah Tanner Ferguson and her husband Keith, Robert Benson Tanner and his wife Kristin, John Cash Tanner and his wife Marcie; foster sons Michael and Todd Whitesides; grandchildren Abby Tanner, Joshua Tanner, Hannah Ferguson, Gideon Tanner, Bebe Tanner, Luke Tanner, Mary Peyton Tanner, and Brody Tanner; sisters Amanda Jones and her husband Hardeman, Nancy Stewart and her husband Carter.

In lieu of flowers and in honor of Dr. Tanner's own generosity, the family requests that donations be made to Salem Camp Ground (www.salemcampground.org) or to a charity of your choice. Memorial service will be held Saturday, March 8, at 2:00 p.m. at Cartecay Baptist Church, Ellijay.