Growing up poor in northwest Georgia left an imprint on Eunice Hackney that compelled her to help the less privileged.
For her, charity was a way of life. Take the bear project. It started when she accompanied a friend on a tour of the neonatal unit where HIV-infected babies were kept at Grady Memorial Hospital. Mrs. Hackney joined volunteers who made toy bears for the infants.
She used her position as president of the Georgia National Hikers and Campers Association to get others involved. Association members would ship boxes of bears to the Hackneys that the couple delivered to various hospitals.
"My wife generated 4,000 of the things, but Grady didn't have 4,000 babies down there, so the bears went to hospitals in Albany, Savannah and Augusta," said James E. Hackney, her husband of 58 years. "Grady was the focus, but the bear project really caught on."
Through the years, Eunice Winters Hackney had cancer three times and underwent two knee replacements. She also suffered from diabetes.
Recently, her blood had stopped producing white blood cells and she died on Jan. 27 at her home in Dacula. She was 83. A private graveside service was held in Buford. Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory handled arrangements.
Mrs. Hackney was born in Haralson County, one of six children. Her father died when she was 4, and at 17 she left home for Atlanta. She was 22 and working as a nurse's aide at Emory Crawford Long Hospital when she met Mr. Hackney.
"She came to Atlanta to further her education," her husband said. "She got off the bus, knew no one, found a job and began to learn about Atlanta. It's the most humble beginning you ever saw in your life."
In the mid-1960s, Mrs. Hackney became a Realtor and worked in the field until 2006. She was a member of the Cobb Board of Realtors and the Atlanta Board of Realtors.
Her career never kept her from performing charitable deeds. She was playing golf at the North Fulton Golf Course when she learned about volunteers who knitted caps for cancer patients who had lost, or would lose, their hair. She joined the effort.
"The bear thing was much bigger than the cap project," Mr. Hackney said. "You had a few people making caps, but for the bears she organized the ladies in the hiking association, and there were 30 chapters. She thought it up. She organized it and put it together."
For several years, the Hackneys and other couples would drive to Jacksonville, unload their bikes and ride for miles down the historic A1A Highway. An avid swimmer, hiker, biker and golfer, she used to volunteer in state parks.
She and her husband also took underprivileged children on trips to Disney World.
"She really just wanted to help people all her life," Mr. Hackney said.
Additional survivors include a brother, Bobby Winters of Hephzibah; a son, Charles Carlan of Buford; a daughter, Rita Miller of Jefferson; and seven grandchildren.
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