MAYO, Jr., Joseph Manning "Joe"
Joseph Manning Mayo Jr. passed away on May 5, 2023, after a brief illness. He was preceded in death by the love of his life and wife of 58 years, Fran Estabrook Mayo. He is survived by his sister, Barbara Reid; and many nephews and nieces.
Joe was born in Thomasville, Georgia, on September 28, 1930, to Joseph Manning Mayo and Lilly Lewis Mayo. When he was young, his family moved to Atlanta, where he attended E. Rivers Grade School and Garden Hills Grade School, and graduated from North Fulton High School in 1948. He then attended Georgia Tech, where he majored in industrial management and graduated in 1954.
After college, Joe joined the U.S. Navy and served on the USS Tarawa aircraft carrier. On completing his service, he went to work for the Coca-Cola Company, where he managed three company-owned production plants in Washington State, Oregon and Hawaii. He retired in 1993, after 36 years with Coke.
He moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, and then to Palm Coast, Florida, where he enjoyed the rest of his retirement years. During these years, Joe and Fran loved their summers at their summer home in Macatawa, Michigan. In Palm Coast, his life was enriched by friends, especially home manager and administrative assistant, Kathy Chatfield, and caregiver, Mariela Rodriguez.
Joe was a student of history, a woodworker and a devoted baseball fan, first of the Atlanta Crackers and then of the Atlanta Braves. He was a lifelong supporter of Georgia Tech. He held the Coca-Cola Company in high regard and would never drink any other kind of soft drink. So have a Coke and smile in memory of Joe.
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