Dudge Pruitt was the first Gwinnett County Commission chairman in 1968, and family support helped get him elected. Sheila Falls remembers going door-to-door to pass out fliers and spread her father's message.
"We actually campaigned for him," said Falls, a Knoxville resident. "I was very proud of him, but I didn't realize the significance of it at the time."
Mr. Pruitt served as a Gwinnett official from 1964 to 1972 and was the original elected chairman. Politics was only one of the Buford native's many interests. He owned two Shell stations and developed commercial properties and subdivisions when Gwinnett was in its early stages.
"He projected the growth was going to happen and he tried to prepare for it," said Amy Pruitt Youngblood, a daughter from Marietta. "Some of the things he implemented allowed the growth."
Winifred Roy Pruitt had suffered from diabetes, pancreas and liver problems. He was hospitalized when visiting a friend in Pride, La., and died Friday from complications of his illnesses. He was 79. A funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Buford's Flanigan Funeral Home.
Mr. Pruitt was a three-star sport at Buford High School in baseball, basketball and football in 1947-1950. He was the first Buford football player elected to the all-state team. He was a offered an athletic scholarship from the University of Georgia, but bypassed it to play baseball briefly for the Atlanta Crackers. He was a 2008 Buford City Athletic Hall of Fame inductee.
After an Air Force stint, he returned to Gwinnett County and worked at General Motors before starting his own business ventures.
Mr. Pruitt also owned a car wash and convenience store near Lake Lanier.
"A lot of these things were ‘firsts,'" said Ms. Falls, his daughter. "They were new concepts at the time."
Mr. Pruitt served as Gwinnett chairman in 1968-1972. He helped established the county's first police agency and water system.
"I think he thoroughly enjoyed it, but I think it was frustrating, too, because it was so hard to get things done," Ms. Falls said. "This was a time when everything needed to change. It had been a small county, and he was progressive considering the time."
When he was in office, he might take his family on a Sunday outing that involved driving around the county to see development and the potential for it.
"He was in the office when Gwinnett was growing by leaps and bounds, and he did a good job in guiding the county forward for the growth that was coming," Ms. Falls said.
Additional survivors include his former wife, Betty Jean Davis Pruitt of Buford; a son, Jeff Pruitt of Buford; a sister, Hazel Pruitt Carroll of Lawrenceville, and six grandchildren.
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