Joseph William Lineberger, 77, of Clarkesville, Georgia, passed away at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Braselton on April 16, 2021, after an extended illness.
Joe was born December 6, 1943, in Valdosta, Georgia, to Joseph Perry and Marjorie Pinnell Lineberger and spent his formative years on the family farm in Twin Lakes, Georgia. Joe attended and graduated from the Lowndes County Schools before attending the University of Georgia. He earned a BS in agricultural science and horticulture from the university in 1966. Afterward, he began teaching at Butts County High School in Jackson, Georgia, before returning to Lowndes County, where he would spend the bulk of his career teaching agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, and crop science. Upon retirement, he could boast of 32-years of service teaching countless students in the classroom and through his association with the FFA.
Joe married twice. First in 1966 to Annie Mae Allen of Jefferson, Georgia, and secondly in 1974 to Carolyn Joy Palmer of Demorest, Georgia. He had three children: David Gregory (Annie Mae) and Amanda Leigh, and Christian Daniel (Carolyn).
Joe was an avid genealogist and got the bug for family history early by listening to his grandmother Annie Martin Lineberger. He spent uncounted hours in libraries, churches, and archives documenting his family; the lion’s share of his work was before the advent of computers or the internet. His knowledge of the subject matter was so extensive that he authored a book in 1985 entitled Leimberger: A Genealogy and History of Some of the Descendants of Christian Leimberger: A Lutheran Salzburger Expatriate.
In addition to genealogy, Joe loved model railroading, ham radio, computer games, good barbeque, and home cooking. Despite his busy schedule, he somehow found time to earn a Master’s Degree from Valdosta State University and a Specialist’s degree from UGA. He also taught Sunday School for over 30 years at both Corinth Baptist Church in Twin Lakes and Bethlehem Baptist Church in Clarkesville.
Joe is survived by his wife of 47 years, Carolyn Palmer Lineberger; a daughter, Amanda Leigh Lineberger Davidson of Cornelia, GA; sons David Gregory Lineberger (Jennifer) of Athens, GA and Christian Daniel Lineberger (Mary Frances) of Macon, GA; four grandsons: Joshua Coile Lineberger, William Loren Lineberger, Christian Luke Lineberger, and Ian Branch Lineberger; a sister Debra Anne Lineberger of Shreveport, Louisiana; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph Perry and Marjorie Pinnell Lineberger, brother Thomas Berry Gilbert, sister Margaret Gilbert Hester, and an infant brother, Jerald David Lineberger.
There will be a graveside service at Corinth Baptist Church in Twin Lakes, Georgia, at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, 2021, and a memorial service at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Clarkesville, Georgia, at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 1, 2021.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Gideons International, c/o Habersham North Camp, P.O. Box 1855, Clarkesville, Georgia 30523 or the Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center, 2150 Limestone Parkway, Suite 222, Gainesville, Georgia 30501.
An online guest registry is available for the Lineberger family at HillsideMemorialChapel.com.
Arrangements by Hillside Memorial Chapel, Clarkesville, Georgia. (706) 754-6256
