James Redding Strickland

Mr. James Redding Strickland, 77, of Griffin, passed away on Sunday, February 23, 2020 after a hard-fought battle against lymphoma. Mr. Strickland, lovingly known as Jim, was born in Edison, Georgia on December 3, 1942, to Aubrey Bennett Strickland and Cleone Clements Strickland. He is preceded in death by both of his parents and one of his three brothers, Aubrey Dennis Strickland. Jim grew up in Edison with his brothers as the second youngest of four. Jim was known to always have his nose in a book and enjoyed playing baseball and basketball in high school. Jim attended the University of North Georgia for two years before transferring to the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. He graduated from UGA in 1965 with his doctorate in pharmacy. Later that year, he moved to Northern Virginia for his first job as a pharmacist at Drug Fair. In no time at all, he met the love of his life, Martha Benjamin. Jim and Martha dated for only two months before Jim asked for her hand in marriage. The two were married in a small church in Alexandria, Virginia in 1966. Within the first year of their marriage, Jim was drafted into the Army and Martha gave birth to their first child, Laura. Jim worked as a pharmacist in the Army for two years before returning to his job at Drug Fair. In 1974, Jim and Martha had their second child, Michael. Eventually, an opportunity arose for Jim and his brother, Dennis, to purchase their own pharmacy in Georgia. Jim brought his family to Griffin and purchased Neel’s Pharmacy in 1976. Jim and Dennis ran Neel’s Pharmacy for a decade before purchasing an empty store on East Solomon Street that later became Strickland’s Pharmacy. Jim owned and operated his pharmacy for over twenty years. He was kind, well-liked and affectionately called the “pill doc” by his employees and customers throughout his time as a Griffin pharmacist. When he wasn’t working at the store, Jim enjoyed learning about and investing in the stock market, attending Georgia football games, practicing carpentry and travelling to places like Florida, California and Europe. He loved going out to eat with his friends, finding new movies and listening to a variety of music. He became a member of the First United Methodist Church of Griffin in March of 1978 and he remained active in the church throughout his life. He participated in the Young at Heart group and could be found collecting peanut butter for the Five Loaves and Two Fish food pantry every Sunday. Jim is survived by his wife of almost 55 years, Martha Strickland, of Griffin; his daughter, Laura Lefevre and husband Stephan, of Hampton; his son, Michael Strickland and wife Matya, of San Diego, California; his brothers, Ben Strickland and wife Diane of Edison, and Kenneth Strickland and wife Helen of Tifton; his sister-in-law Gail, of Griffin; his grandchildren, Kaley, Dylan, Erynn and Avery Lefevre of Hampton and Ethan and Emily Strickland of San Diego, California; as well as several nieces and nephews. A memorial service celebrating Jim’s life will be held on February 29, 2020 at 3 p.m. in the sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church of Griffin at 1401 Maple Drive. The family will begin receiving guests at 1:30 p.m. at the church’s Welcome Center. The family asks that members of the Dunkers Sunday School class, Young at Heart and pharmaceutical colleagues sit together during the memorial. The family is grateful to the ICU staff of the Wellstar Spalding Regional Hospital for all they did. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for monetary donations to be directed to the church or jars of peanut butter to be given in Jim’s memory to the Five Loaves and Two Fish food pa For online condolences please visit www.haistenmcculloughfuneralhome.com Haisten McCullough Funeral Home, 1155 Everee Inn Road, Griffin, Ga. 30224 is in charge of the arrangements.

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James Redding Strickland

December 3, 1942 - February 23, 2020