Lamar Garren
June 19, 1943 ~ December 12, 2003
Resided in:
Arden, NC
Arden ~ Ivey Lamar Garren, 60 of 51 Sunview Circle, died Friday, December 12, 2003 after an extended fight with brain disease.
Mr. Garren was born in Asheville on June 19, 1943, the eldest of four Garren sons. He graduated from the old Gibbons Hall School for Boys where he was team captain his eighth year. He attended the Georgia Military Academy in College Park, GA for three years. He graduated from Lee H. Edwards High in 1961. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1966 and was a member of the first graduating class from that institution. Mr. Garren began his professional career as a junior executive with Sears Roebuck and Co. in Asheville in 1969 and transferred to several locations while working with Sears. In 1986 he moved to a new Sears spin-off company known as SPS Payment Systems in Johnson City, TN and became operations manager for the facility. In 1992 Mr. Garren was promoted to General Manager and vice president of the Sioux Falls, SD facility for SPS. He retired in April 1999 and returned to Arden where he resided until his death.
Mr. Garren was the son of the late John William and Jewell Youngblood Garren of Asheville. He was also preceded in death by a brother, Kyle Garren who died in 1995.
Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Judy Vance Garren of Arden; daughter, Melanie Garren Darling of Arden; son, Vance Lamar Garren of Washington, GA; son-in-Law, Mark Darling of Arden; three grandchildren, Savannah , Garren and Hayley Darling all of Arden; two brothers, Milo Garren, and wife Nanci, and Terry Garren and wife Maria, all of Arden; two nieces, Myla Garren Smith of Greensboro and Solari Garren of Arden; one nephew Brent Garren of Asheville.
Funeral services will be held 1:00 PM Monday in the chapel of Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian on Long Shoals Road with the Rev. Joe Hoffman officiating.
The family will receive friends from 7-8:30 PM Sunday at the Funeral Home.
Flowers are appreciated or memorials may be made to the Society for PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy), Woodholme Medical Building, Suite 515, 1838 Greene Tree Road, Baltimore, MD 21208.
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I had the pleasure of working with Lamar for one year in the Asheville SPS/ACS facility. I will always remember him as a positive force that was always willing to reach out to others. My condolences to the Garren family.
Dear Judy,
I am very sorry to learn today about Lamar’s passing last week. One of my sisters who lives in Asheville telephoned me with the sad news.
Lamar and I had been classmates for some eight years while we were both students at Gibbons Hall. However, by virtue of the proximity of our homes then, we also were especially close friends and long-time playmates. I think that for the last three or four years of elementary school, we met nearly every day after school at Avery’s Drug Store on Hendersonville Road to buy candy or baseball cards, and we probably talked on the telephone for an hour or so virtually every evening.
I certainly remember spending many, many Saturdays with Lamar trading cards, exploring nearly everywhere that we could walk, or just ‘hanging around’? his home on Shady Oak Drive or at his dad’s Shell station in Biltmore. Occasionally, we even did all of those things that are generally expected out of pre-teenage boys. (Today, they would probably seem rather benign, but that’s a whole other story.)
On other days, Lamar would walk or bike the few blocks over to Vanderbilt Road, where we would then slip over my backyard fence and into the very deep and forbidding woods of the Biltmore Estate, sometimes wandering around for hours (and miles). (I wonder how we ever managed to find our way back out for dinner at the end of those long days!)
After Gibbons Hall, we both left town for our respective boarding schools. At that point — although I probably didn’t recognize it at the time — I essentially had already left Asheville for good. My trips back to North Carolina became less and less frequent, and were largely just brief visits, at best. Spending high school away, turned into college away, and then into graduate school away.
School was followed ‘? in turn ‘? by work, family and career in the Washington, DC area. Fittingly, I suppose that at least in my case, Thomas Wolfe was exactly right ‘? ‘You can’t go home again,’? ‘?and I really didn’t. It was never one of those things that I had planned out, but life has a way of carrying us along in a lot of different directions. Apparently, it did for you both, as well. The months away from Asheville quickly turned into years, ‘?that turned into decades, ‘?that turned into lifetimes.
However, with a convergence of the ‘sands of time’? and the Internet, Lamar was one of those people in my life who I tried to locate several different times. The only ‘match’? I ever had was for an address somewhere ‘way out West,’? which I was sure could never be correct. (I now see that from the obituary that I was wrong about that.)
In any event, I am truly sorry for losing track of Lamar for all those intervening years since those carefree days of the 50s. I know what a great friend of mine he was during our youth. We never shared a single cross word. I’m certain that you recognize that he also grew up to became a great husband, father, and friend of so many others whose lives he was able to touch. I am glad they were all as fortunate.
Please express my sincere condolences to Milo and Terry, as well. I’m truly very sorry. My thoughts and prayers will always remain with you and your family.
Sincerely,
Joe McGowan
Judy & family – Deeply saddened to hear of Lamar’s passing. I too, am one of the fortunate ones to have worked with Lamar at SPS – Gray, TN. As you probably know, he touched many lives and shaped many of our careers. Lamar genuinely cared for the people he worked with and has made lasting impressions with many. My thoughts and prayers are with you & your family.
I am so sorry for your loss. I worked with Lamar at SPS in Sioux Falls and have many wonderful memories of him. He always had such wonderful stories to tell. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family during this difficult time.
Sending my condolences. Lamar’s leadership in the Sioux Falls and Gray site was valuable to our organization. I am as sad as the day he announced his retirement. May God Bless your family.
My deepest sympathies to the Garren family. I worked at SPS in Sioux Falls when Lamar was the GM. He would often stop to talk and we would share stories. He was a kind and gentle man. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
God has called one of his children home. We have lost the pleasure of laughing and enjoying being around someone as special as Lamar. We will always have the memories. Having known Lamar for over 50 years I cannot count the number of great times we had together. Judy our deepest sympathy goes to you, Melanie, Vance and all of the family members. Patsy and I will keep you in our prayers during this most trying time.
Roger, Patsy, Bart, and Brad
Judy, roger gardin just e-mailed me about this terrible news. Jane and I both thought the world of Lamar and will never forget the night he spent at our home while visiting our credit central in Ft. Lauderdale. You probabally do not remember me but, I had the priviledge of haveing dinner with you and Lamar on one of our trips to Atlanta for a meeting. We almost had an opportunity to work together with SPS after I retired from Sears but that did not work out. He called me while I was doing some consultant work in Las Vegas just over a year ago and it was as if we had just seen each other the day before. He was that kind of guy, as you know. Please know that Jane and I will be thinking of you and the family as you go through the next few days, weeks, and months. What a guy he was! Jim
Judy…I moved to Oregon in October, but I still read the Asheville paper daily. I was so very sad to read about Lamar’s death. I remember well our brief visits in recent years and especially our good memories from school days. May your memories with Lamar bring you comfort in this sorrowful time. I will pray for your continued strength and that you will find peace after such a large loss. Love you. Hoot
It’s difficult when someone who is loved cannot be there. Because I have have done this also. But memories that are made and shared will keep a loved one near.
God ,with loving wisdom,will be there to guide us through;He will help us meet tommorrow and give us strength.
My God Bless & keep you.
Randy Freck
MY condolances tothe entire family.
Lamar was a dear friend. I have so many wonderful memories of his friendship during the years we worked together. ‘…God will bring him where the blessed are.’
Judy, please except my deepest sympathies. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.
I want to send my sincere condolences to Lamar’s family. We were classmates at Gibbons Hall and good friends. Lamar was always a really nice guy and we had a good time in those years. All the family will be in my thoughts. We are currently in Hilton Head so will not be able to attend the services.
Sincerely, Tommy
Judy and family: I am so sorry for your loss. I worked with Lamar at SPS here in Sioux Falls and have many fond memories of him. He always had a smile on his face and was always interested in hearing stories regarding our children. He was very personable. He and my husband Shane had several good discussions at company events. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Sincerely, Dana Voges
Judy,
So many years have gone by and we have been out of touch but I still remember with great fondness how very close we were during our school years. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. May you find peace and comfort in God’s love as you adjust to life without Lamar.
Fondly,
Nancy
Judy and family,
I am so sorry for your loss. Lamar had a great influence on my life and many others. He was very well respected and loved and will be missed.
My deepest sympathies at your loss, and that of all of us here at SPS/Citi. I worked with Lamar during his tenure at the Gray TN center for SPS. His dedication was obvious in all that he did, and we will all miss him. May God bless your family and bring you peace.
Judy and family, I am one of those that was fortunate enough to work with Lamar at SPS. He was one of my first mentors and I owe a great deal to Lamar for the career successes I have had over the years. He had a great impact on many lives in Gray, Sioux Falls, and Asheville and he will not be forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the family.
My deepest sympathies go out to the Garren family over the loss of Lamar. I had the great pleasure of having Lamar as my mentor very early in my career at SPS, and I have often since reflected on the many valuable lessons he taught me.
My thoughts and prayers will be with his family and friends as they mourn his loss, and may God grant him eternal peace.
I am so sorry to hear of the passing of Lamar. We worked together for many years in Sears Credit. I know he will leave a very large void that only time will heal.
judy, so sorry to hear about lamar.
hoot sent me an email. my deepest condolences
‘sefus’
I worked with Mr. Garren at Sears Payment Systems in Gray, TN until he transferred to Sioux Falls. I have many fond memories of Mr. Garren and have always held him in highest regards. His passing is deeply felt.
Please accept my deepest sympathy. I worked with Lamar at SPS in Gray and always had the utmost respect for him. May God bless you and your family.
My thoughts and prayers are with you. There are no words to express how appreciative I am to have had the opportunity to work with and to have the leadership that Lamar provided to me during my years at Sears Payment Systems. He is truly a special person and I am honored to have known him and to have a chance to work with him. He’ll never be forgotten, nor will you…his supportive family and friends!