Walter Emmit Gillis, age 96, of Glenwood, GA, passed away at his home Monday, May 6, 2024, surrounded by his loving family. The family will be receiving friends, Saturday, May 11th, from 1:00 P.M. until 3:00 P.M., at Bethel Baptist Church. Funeral service will begin at 3:00 P.M. with interment will follow in the church cemetery. He was born on October 19, 1927, to Walter Hayes & Levada Clyde Day Gillis. He married Jewell McKenzie on December 1, 1948, and they adopted their daughter Lori on February 7, 1964.

Emmit began farming in 1951 with just 100 acres. With the Lord’s blessings and hard work, his farm grew to be over 500 acres. It has been said many times throughout the years that Walter Emmit Gillis might not have been the best farmer in the state, but there weren’t many better than him. In an article published in November of 1985, former Wheeler County Extension Director David Williams explained, “He’s among the best farmers in the state. He’s not fancy, rides old tractors and refuses to spend money unnecessarily, but his crops don’t go lacking- they get what they need to grow and produce.”

He earned many awards for his high yielding peanuts, corn, cotton, and tobacco. Mr. Emmit won the 1993 Irrigated Corn Producer Efficiency Award. He placed in the Money Maker Corn, Peanut, and Cotton Clubs for numerous years for his high yielding crops. This Gillis family was selected as the FHA Farm Family of the year for the Wheeler-Telfair County Area for 1971. They were also honored in 1973 as the Soil and Water Conservation Family of the Year. In 1991 & 1994, Mr. Emmit won the Georgia Soybean Efficiency Contest, and he took first place in the 1993 Corn Efficiency Contest. He and Mrs. Jewell were even recognized by Funk Seeds International and Delta and Pine Land Company for their outstanding corn yields in the 80s and 90s. He was frequently found in local newspapers and magazines for his outstanding work. In a newspaper article in 1984, his wife, Jewell, spoke about all of Mr. Emmit’s awards, “There’s just not room to hang them all.” In the March 1997 edition of The Peanut Grower Magazine, Emmit was featured for his work with growing twin row peanuts. While recognizing Mr. Emmit for his work with the Ohoopee River Soil and Water Conservation District, Chairman Jim L. Gillis, Jr. said the work of men like Emmit is heavily relied on because of his unique understanding and appreciation of the needs of the soil.

Emmit loved the ground he worked. He once said that farming was like life. You prepare the dirt, plant, care for, and then harvest the crop. Here on Earth we care for and nurture our crop which is our Salvation and the work we do is for the Lord. Once we get to Heaven, we will see our yield. On multiple occasions he told his wife after working all day and night in the fields that if something happened to him while he was working, he’d leave this world doing what he loved.

Walter E. Gillis lived a life of service. He served his country in the armed forces-army division for four years. He served as the district supervisor with the Ohoopee River Soil & Water Conservation District for over 20 years. He was a board member for the Agricultural Stabilization & Conservation Service, Farm Services Agency, and the Division of Family & Children Services. He also served as the state peanut commissioner for Farm Bureau. More importantly, he served his Lord as a deacon at Beulah Baptist Church for more than forty years and at Bethel Baptist Church for 17 years.

Emmit is preceded in death by his parents Walter Hayes & Clyde Day Gillis; one sister: Quinelle Gillis Derriso; two brothers David Gillis and Jade Gillis; and one nephew, Royce Derriso. He is survived by his wife of 75 years Jewell McKenzie Gillis; daughter and son-in-law: Lori and Johnny Pace; Nephew/Son: Doyce Derriso and his wife Belinda; brother: Grady Gillis age 94 of Macon, GA and his wife Agnes; one sister: Alice Gillis Wright- age 98 of Danville, GA; as well as numerous nieces and nephews that loved him very much.