YANCEY, Jr., Prentiss Q.
No one could tell a story like Prentiss Q. Yancey Jr. No matter how short or long, sad or happy, frivolous or remarkable, there was usually an "UNBELIEVABLE" or two in the telling along with pauses for effect or questions.
Prentiss loved storytelling, mysteries, novels and movies. He loved people and always cautioned against judging anyone "unless you've walked a mile in their moccasins."
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia August 20,1944 to Johnnie and P.Q. Yancey– the first of four boys, all of whom would go on to become doctors and lawyers.
Prentiss spent some of his formative years at St. John's Prep, a boarding school in Massachusetts, and then graduated from Villanova University in 1966. He studied law and received his JD from Emory University. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve and joined the law firm Smith, Gambrell and Russell where he became a partner and practiced law for nearly three decades.
During that time he led contract negotiations in the merger of the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association in 1976 and was part of the legal team that launched the cable network Turner Broadcasting System. He loved representing sports athletes, some of whom became lifelong friends. He loved working with media and telecom companies. Eventually he left the firm to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors.
What Prentiss enjoyed most about business and law was the people he got to know and work with over the years. He loved learning their stories and many of those people became lifelong friends too. He enjoyed playing golf and hosting dinners with friends from all over the world. He had a gift for bringing people together.
He would say "learn to recognize success and failure as the imposters they both are" because he knew that both are double-sided vehicles that could go in unlikely directions.
Prentiss passed away November 28, 2021 at the age of 77. He is survived by three brothers– Labat, Michael and Gerald Yancey, three children– Quinn, Crissy and Schuyler Yancey, and two grandchildren.
Prentiss Yancey will be honored in a memorial service at Carl M. Williams Funeral Directors Friday December 10, 2021.
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Funeral Home Information
Carl M. Williams Funeral Directors
492 Larkin Street SW
Atlanta, GA
30313
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