Former state legislator Paul Jennings was known for his successful banking career.
Yet the highlight of his life was his family and serving his church and community, friends said.
The DeKalb County Republican served three terms in the state House of Representatives and helped grow a local savings and loan into a major metro Atlanta financial institution.
Along the way, the two-time cancer survivor became a PTA president, charity fundraiser and church elder.
“He was probably one of the most decent men I’ve ever met and associated with,” said state Sen. Fran Millar, who served in the state House with Jennings. “He knew the difference between right and wrong and never deviated from it. You don’t get that much in politics. We are all a little better for having known him.”
Jennings died of leukemia on Oct. 26 at the age of 83. His funeral was Saturday at Clairmont Presbyterian Church in Decatur.
He was born on Oct. 23, 1932, during the Great Depression in the Dust Bowl city of Tulsa, Okla., where his father worked as a banker. When Jennings was 5, the bank folded, leaving his father without a job, and his family soon lost their home.
To escape the drought, dust storms and economic havoc that drove more than 60 percent of the population from the region at the time, his family moved to Washington, D.C.
Jennings graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and received a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University in 1954. He married Edna Kronenbitter in 1957. After a stint in the U.S. Navy, he received his MBA in marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1959.
He began working in Rochester, N.Y., and then Manhattan during the Mad Men era. As his marketing career soared, he moved to six cities in 12 years.
In 1970, Jennings landed a job with Decatur Federal Savings and Loan (now Wells Fargo), and settled with his family in DeKalb County.
During his 20-year tenure at Decatur Federal, he rose to senior vice president of marketing and helped Decatur Federal expand from six to 35 branches and become a leading mortgage lender in Georgia.
Jennings served on the boards of the United Way, DeKalb Medical Center, arts groups and other local nonprofits. He also was president of the Lakeside High School PTA, sports booster clubs and his neighborhood association.
As a leader of several local and national marketing organizations, Jennings became a mentor to many students and young marketing professionals, said Ken Bernhardt, regents professor of marketing emeritus at Georgia State University.
He was president of the Atlanta branch of the American Marketing Association and a guest lecturer in marketing classes at Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business.
“When I think of Paul Jennings, I think of a person who had as much integrity as anybody I know. He was the consummate professional marketer,” Bernhardt said. “He helped build Decatur Federal Savings and Loan into a premier financial institution. He also was extremely personable. He took an interest in people personally and professionally.”
From 1998 to 2002, Jennings served in the state House of Representatives, representing the Lakeside/Tucker area. He lost his re-election bid in 2002 after reapportionment of legislative districts and regained a state House seat in 2004. He retired in 2006 at the end of his third term after he was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
While in the state House, he promoted measures to improve education, reduce taxes, ease traffic congestion and increase driver safety for first-time teen drivers. He also co-sponsored the state’s gender Equity in Sports Act and sponsored resolutions to recognize Girls and Women in Sports Day each February.
An avid reader and sports fan, Jennings supported local professional teams and the Southeastern Conference colleges that his children attended. He and his wife also enjoyed traveling.
“He was always interested in politics. He called it a sport with all the maneuvering,” said his wife Edna Jennings. “But he was the type to do it. He was a very patient person and a good listener when people came to him with problems. I’m going to miss that.”
In addition to his wife, Jennings is survived by his daughter Jan Crofford of Decatur, sons Danny Jennings of Tucker, David Jennings of Roswell and Tommy Jennings of Decatur and three grandchildren.
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