SUMMERLIN, Jr., Glenn Wood
Glenn Wood Summerlin, Jr., 87, passed away on April 10, 2021.
Glenn was born in Dallas, Georgia on April 1, 1934, and was the only child of Glenn Wood Summerlin, Sr. of Tallapoosa, GA. and Flora Barrett Summerlin of Cedartown, GA. He was the grandson of Georgia State Senator William Wesley Summerlin who served as mayor of Tallapoosa, GA.
Glenn was a student of Atlanta public schools who attended Peeples Street Elementary School, Brown High School and graduated from Sylvan Hills High School in 1951. He completed his freshman year at Georgia Tech and graduated from Georgia State University in 1956 with a major in Marketing and a concentration in Advertising. In 1967, he received his MBA in Marketing from Georgia State. During his undergraduate years at GSU, Glenn was a member of numerous organizations and served as president of Sigma Phi Epsilon colony, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, a member of Sword & Shield and Scabbard and Blade military fraternities, a member of Blue Key honor fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa and was a Distinguished Military Graduate of the University's R.O.T.C. program.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army reserve when he graduated from G.S.U. in 1956, served a brief tour on active duty at Fort Knox, KY and Ft. Jackson, SC as a second lieutenant in the Armor branch and, following his discharge, served 10 years in the active U.S. Army Reserve. He completed his military service with the rank of Captain.
Glenn began his marketing career in 1956 as Production Manager of Fred Worrill Advertising, a direct marketing agency located in Atlanta, where he was employed as the firm's Production Manager until 1965. In 1965, he joined Grizzard Advertising, Inc. where he served variously as an account executive, V.P. Sales, President and, ultimately, Vice Chairman of the Board until his retirement in 1999.
Much of Glenn's recognition in direct marketing stems from many years of work in developing innovative direct mail fundraising programs for local animal welfare agencies nationwide. His efforts helped scores of local humane societies and SPCAs. He generated hundreds of thousands of new donors and raise millions of dollars in much-needed donations.
During his long business career, Glenn served as president for many organizations including the North Georgia Chapter of the Mail Advertising Service Association International (1956-60), the Georgia Association of Business Communicators (1966-67), the Georgia State University Alumni Association (1971-72), Atlanta Chapter of the American Marketing Association (1973-74), and the Associated Mail Advertising Agencies (1975-77). He was the trustee of the Georgia State University Foundation (1969-75) with service as vice chairman(1974). In addition, he was a member of the advisory board of Families in Action (1984-86).
For more than 30 years Glenn was a member of Mensa, an organization with membership restricted to individuals with an I.Q. achieved by only 2% of the world's population. He received the designation of Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) from the National Society of Fund Raising Executives in 1982 and held that designation until 2000.
Glenn served on the Atlanta Humane Society board for 37 years and completed multiple terms as treasurer. He served two terms as Chairman of the Board and was named an Honorary Life Member of the Society's Board of Directors when he retired from the board in 2008.
Glenn's love of animals led him to serve as a lay representative to the Animal Care Committee of Emory University in the mid 1980s and many years as a member of the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators. In 2000, SAWA presented Glenn with the "Glenn Summerlin Service Award" which was the first of many such awards presented in Glenn's name to other individuals for outstanding achievement in the field of animal welfare.
Glenn received a variety of other honors over the years including being named one of the most influential people in the direct marketing industry by Target Marketing magazine in both 1988 and 1989; selection as the Outstanding Young Man in Dekalb County, GA by Dekalb Jaycees (1967), being selected the recipient of the C.S. Bolen Award presented by the Southern Council of Industrial Editors to the outstanding association president (1967), being named the Direct Marketing Association's Direct Mail Spokesman (1973), and was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award presented by the Georgia State University Alumni Association (1973).
Glenn's interest in the Civil War led him to forming an outstanding collection of the arms and accoutrements of that conflict and membership in the Georgia Arms Collectors Association where he served as director (1972-76) and was the recipient of the President's Award (1973). He was also a member of the Tennessee Gun Collectors Association, the Texas Gun Collectors Association, the Mid-America Antique Arms Society, charter member of the Association of American Sword Collectors and a charter member of the Southeastern Antique Arms Collectors Association where he served on the board of directors for more than thirty years.
Glenn and his wife Anne enjoyed foreign travel immensely and they had the opportunity of visiting almost 50 countries. He took particular pride in his participation in two different three week "working vacation" volunteer projects, one on the Mekong Delta of Vietnam hosted by Global Volunteers where he taught conversational English to four classes of young Vietnamese students at the Foreign Language Center in Cao Lanh and to members of the staff at the provincial hospital located in that city and another project in Russia sponsored by Cross Cultural Solutions where he worked with children and young people in a childrens' shelter in Yaroslavl, a major Russian city north of Moscow.
Glenn is survived by his loving wife of 49 years, Anne Valley Summerlin of Columbia, SC; his son and daughter-in-law Glenn W. Summerlin, III and Renee Phillips Summerlin of Cataula, GA; son Edward Lee Summerlin of Atlanta and his son, Austin Thomas Summerlin; son and daughter-in-law Wade Hampton Summerlin and Brandi Byrum Summerlin of Roswell, GA; and brother-in-law and sister-in-law James and Irene Valley of Buford, GA.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Holy Innocence Episcopal Church or the charity of your choice.
May 2, 2021
