J.B. Foster left his mark on Tucker First United Methodist Church, one that fellow congregants and townspeople can view from practically any angle.
"When we built the new home for the church 22 years ago, J.B. volunteered to fashion stained-glass windows for three sides of the building," said Ken Streeter of Tucker, the church's construction chairman.
"J.B. had firmly in mind how he was going to do it, and it took 18 months for him to finish," Mr. Streeter said. "Each window is 48 inches round, and they're back-lit so you can see them easily from the street."
He said the window on the north side shows a cross and represents the hand of God, the east window shows a lamb and represents the Son, and the south window shows a rising dove and represents the Holy Spirit. "They're multi-colored and show up beautifully at night," he said.
Inside the church, there's a large wooden cross that hangs above the choir. Since the choir members have their backs to it, Mr. Foster decided to make a wooden depiction of the United Methodist Church's emblem -- the cross and flame -- for the back wall, for the benefit of his fellow choir members.
Mr. Foster also made a lasting impression at the church with his voice, singing in the choir there for 33 years until he retired in 2006.
"J.B. was a good, solid bass, a singer I could count on," said the church's former choir director, Eloise Gerecitano of Roswell. "He also had a wonderful sense of humor. If there was a commotion in the bass section, I was pretty sure he had a hand in it."
Mr. Foster took part in several of the church's dinner theater productions, including featured roles such as the judge in "Hello, Dolly!" and the Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz."
"J.B. was great in that show, although I remember he was worried that the tail of his costume wouldn't perform the way it was supposed to," Mrs. Gerecitano said.
Josiah Benjamin "J.B." Foster Jr., 92, of Stone Mountain died July 21 of pneumonia at Meadowbrook Health Care, Tucker. A memorial service will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Tucker First United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Tucker First UMC, 5095 Lavista Road, Tucker GA 30084. Floral Hills Funeral Home and Cremation Services is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Foster grew up in Union, S.C., and attended Clemson University intending to become an architect but had to drop out in 1940 for lack of funds, said a son, Ben Foster III of Stone Mountain.
"Dad went into the U.S. Army with the outbreak of World War II and was assigned to an artillery unit. He served in the desert campaign to drive the Nazis out of North Africa, an experience that he told us was hot, miserable and rampant with flies," he said.
Mr. Foster's later wartime service in Italy was more to his liking, his son said, with all the history and classical architecture to see there. "Dad showed me a photo taken in 1944 showing him in uniform appearing to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a scene that Dad repeated when he and Mom visited Pisa as tourists nearly 50 years later."
After the war Mr. Foster chose to go to the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1947. "There, he met our mother," his son said, and they were married in 1948. After he earned his degree in illustration, they settled in Atlanta, where as a boy Mr. Foster had visited an aunt.
Mr. Foster started as an illustrator at American Lithography, but eventually switched to become a commercial estimator, a job he held for most of his career there. In that capacity, his son said, he gave the printing company's clients an approximation of the cost of projects.
Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Marjorie Foster; another son, Walt Foster of Kennesaw; a sister, Betty Moultis of Columbia, S.C.; and six grandchildren.
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