Abner Wayne Talton

A longtime agricultural ambassador in Houston County, Abner Wayne Talton, passed away unexpectedly on January 1, 2022, at his home. He was 72 years old.

For more than 40 years, Wayne was involved in the farming industry in Middle Georgia. He lived and breathed agriculture and the farm lifestyle, working for many years at Houston Fertilizer and Grain before he started a position at RW Griffen. A true servant for the farming community, he had served on the board at the Houston County Farm Bureau for 32 years, since 1990. He was the president of the board for 12 years, from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2012 until the time of his passing. In addition to the Farm Bureau, Wayne started, and was the president of, the Houston County Cattlemen's Association for a number of years. In 2015, Wayne was recognized for his achievements and was awarded with a Georgia FFA Association Honorary State Degree.

A member of the Bonaire/Kathleen Jaycees, Wayne was also an active member of the Houston County Young Farmers and the Perry Future Farmers of America livestock team. He was on the Advisory committee for the Perry Middle School FFA, Mossy Creek Middle School FFA, Bonaire Middle FFA, Veterans High School FFA, and Northside High FFA and a lifetime alumni member of the Perry FFA alumni association. Wayne has always been very supportive of the Perry FFA and willing to help any student with a livestock project by securing livestock, helping with feed costs, or getting them ready to show. To say that Wayne was a supporter of agriculture in the classroom is an understatement. Wayne was passionate about educating children about farming and was instrumental in teaching the youth of Houston County through the Georgia Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom program as well as through the FFA. He was instrumental in making the Perry FFA school farm beef barn a reality by donating the majority of the fencing material at the facility. He has also assisted in building livestock facilities at Northside High School and Mossy Creek Middle. At the Northside High Agricultural Farm, much of Mr. Talton’s equipment helped turn the farm into an active working orchard. With his dedicated effort, the FFA Chapters in Houston County continued to grow. He has always gone the extra mile to make sure that these chapters could grow to their infinite potential. These chapters would not be where they are today without Wayne Talton.

He was born on July 20, 1949, in Perry, Georgia, to the late Henry Andrew Talton, Sr. and Lucy Wilder Talton. Farming was in his blood and growing up, Wayne was heavily involved in agriculture as he was raised on a dairy farm in Kathleen, Georgia. While attending Perry High School, Wayne was very active with the Future Farmers of America and held two offices, one year as a sentinel and, in his senior year, he served as president. During his middle and high school years with the FFA, Wayne competed in several CDE’s, showing livestock, and competing on the livestock judging teams. After graduation, he attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College before transferring to the University of Georgia. While at UGA, his education was interrupted as he served the United States Army Reserves before returning to UGA where he graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy.

Wayne attended Second Baptist Church and was a member of Andrew United Methodist Church. When he wasn’t spending time farming or volunteering to help shape the minds of young farmers, Wayne enjoyed going on dove hunts. More than anything though, Wayne had a love for his family that couldn’t be matched and he cherished the time he was able to spend with them. His grandbabies were his pride and joy.

Left to treasure Wayne’s memory are his wife of 35 years, Kathy Fountain Talton; children, Chris Joyner (Robin), Ryan Talton (Amber), Leslie Cox (Kenny), and Ac Talton (Ashtan); grandchildren, Brooke Arrington (Robert), Caitlynne Cox, Lucille Talton, Sara Talton, Braxton Talton, Stella Talton, Parker Cox, Reagan Talton, and Rhett Talton; great grandchild, Drake Arrington; brothers, Andy Talton Jr (Louise), Seabie Talton (Sandy), and Warren Talton (Cheryl); and sister, Kathy Coffee (Eddie): as well as many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews.

The family will receive visitors from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at McCullough Funeral Home. His funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 6, 2022 at Second Baptist Church. Officiating will be Jim Perdue, Sonny Perdue, and Jake Redmon. Wayne will be laid to rest in Perry Memorial Gardens. For friends and family unable to attend, the service will be streamed live via the McCullough Funeral Home Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mcculloughfuneralhome/live/.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations be made in Wayne Talton’s memory to the Georgia Foundation of Agriculture to support Ag in the Classroom, 1830 Macon Road Perry, GA 31069 or to the Houston County Young Farmers Local Livestock Show, 1307 North Avenue Perry, GA 31069.

Learn more about the measures McCullough Funeral Home is taking to ensure the health and safety of our guests at www.mcculloughfh.com. There you can also sign an Online Registry for the family. McCullough Funeral Home and Crematory has the privilege of being entrusted with these arrangements.