Raymond Cooper Hamrick

Raymond Cooper Hamrick, 99, died Monday, November 24, 2014. Services will be held on Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at 2:00PM in the Chapel of Hart's at the Cupola, 6324 Peake Road, with Elder Jessie Roberts officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will greet friends on Tuesday from 5:00PM until 7:00PM at the Cupola. Mr. Hamrick was born on June 14, 1915 in Macon, Georgia and was a graduate of Lanier High for Boys, Class of 1933. He became associated with Andersen's Jewelers in 1935. Mr. Hamrick entered the Army Air Corps in 1942 and graduated from Lowry Technical School in Denver as a Norden bombsight specialist. He was supervisor of bombsight and auto-pilot shops at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He later attended special schools at Lowry and at IBM factory in Endicott, New York and served as chief of bombsight and auto-pilot sections at North Field, Guam. Mr. Hamrick returned to Andersen's in 1946 as a junior partner and upon the death of Mr. Andersen in 1963, he purchased his interest and became sole proprietor. He served as official watch inspector for many years. His main interest outside his business was in the field of early American religious music, known as Sacred Harp. Mr. Hamrick served as officer of South Georgia Sacred Harp Convention on several occasions and was elected to the board of directors of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company of Bremen, Georgia in 1987. He was elected president of the publishing company in 1988 and served four terms. Mr. Hamrick was appointed to the Music Revision Committee for the 1991 revision project. He authored several papers on performance characteristics of music, mostly published in musical journals. Beginning in 1969, he composed music in the tradition and it was published in various editions. Mr. Hamrick was a member of the Tennessee Folklore Society, the Hymn Society of America, the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, the Barbershoppers Chapter of Macon, and the American Watchmaker Institute. Mr. Hamrick was presented with a plaque in 2003 by the Music Department of Mercer University and with a plaque in 2005 by Emory University. He received a "Certificate of Appreciation" from the American Folklife Division of the Library of Congress for contributions to the study of the arts in South Georgia. Mr. Hamrick is survived by his daughters, Susan Hatfield (Terry) of Port Lavaca, Texas and Patricia Dancy (Charles) of Forsyth; grandchildren, Justin Byrd and Josh Byrd, both of Macon, and Melissa Thorsell (Torrey) of Bedford, Texas; great-grandchild, Victoria Thorsell of Bedford, Texas; nieces, Sharon Hamrick and Leesa Rickman (Tony), both of Macon. Register online at www.hartsmort.com. Hart's Mortuary and Crematory at the Cupola, 6324 Peake Road, has charge of arrangements.