The late Henry Pope remembered with road named in his honor

Published 1:11 pm Saturday, May 17, 2025

The late Henry Jackson Pope Jr., a longtime banking executive at Exchange Bank and community leader in Milledgeville, was recently remembered with a road named after him at the Ga. Route 22 Industrial Park.

The street is named Henry Pope Way.

A large crowd attended the event, including Pope’s wife of 43 years, Helen, and their sons, Jonathan and Kevin, and their wives and children.

“This is a great occasion and a great event,” remarked Jonathan Jackson, executive director of The Development Authority of Milledgeville and Baldwin County. “We’re here to dedicate a road in honor of a man who gave a lot to this community and a lot to our economic development landscape.”

Jackson turned the event over to Milledgeville City Manager Hank Griffeth, who shared several stories about Pope and his wife, including memorable times involving square dancing.

“It’s an honor for me to be here in this role today,” Griffeth said.

He said he had had the privilege of knowing Henry since he came to Milledgeville and began working at the bank, courting Helen and later marrying her.

“I am privileged to have known Henry and to have been the recipient of his wisdom, guidance, help and friendship,” Griffeth said. “This is a very fitting honor on a great day.”

Helen Pope then greeted the crowd.

“We are deeply touched by the generosity in honoring Henry with the naming of this road after him,” she said. “I want to thank Sharon (Seymour) and Jonathan (Jackson) and all of the Authority Board. Henry’s legacy will live on because of this street being named after him. We thank y’all from the bottom of our hearts.”

“We’ve always known how much our father meant to this community, but it’s always nice to have a reminder, and every single one of you being here is that reminder,” said the Pope’s youngest son Kevin. “I venture to say that everybody who is here today in some capacity knew my father well, whether it was work or through church or service through the community. Those three things were very important to him. The most important, though, would have been his family, I would say. He loved his family. He loved being with his family; his immediate family and his extended family. Those were just the things I think meant the most to him.”

Kevin, now a lieutendant with the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRT), said his dad grew up in Jeffersonville and moved to Milledgeville to further his education at Georgia College.

While working at Exchange Bank, Henry began dating Helen Morrison, a relationship that quickly blossomed into marriage and the start of a family.

Their first-born child was Jonathan, who followed in his dad’s footsteps as a banking executive with Exchange Bank.

Kevin said he could never think of a time when his parents weren’t in attendance at the ballgames he and Jonathan participated in growing up.

The same was true of school events, Boy Scout and band trips.

“They were there for everything,” Kevin said. They were never absent. They went out of their way to make sure they showed up for us.”

For many years, Henry served as a volunteer coach at the recreation department.

He especially loved working on old muscle cars. The classic 1966 and ‘67 GTO were his favorites.

Kevin said his dad treated everyone fairly and with compassion.

“Till this day, I’ve never met anybody that had a negative word to say about him,” Kevin said. “It might be because I carry a gun for a living, but I venture to say that’s not the case, simply because everyone loved him. It’s very fitting that the road is today is named Henry Pope Way, not Henry Pope Drive or Henry Pope Trail.”

Kevin said his dad was a man of unquestionabe integrity and always did the right thing in both his personal and professional life.

“And if he made a mistake, he’d be the first person to tell on himself,” Kevin said. “Some people call that just being a good human being. I call that the Henry Pope Way.”

Jonathan shared fond memories of his dad, too.

“Like my mother and brother said, we truly do appreciate everybody being here,” Jonathan said. “I think my father has touched every single person that’s here in one way or another … It is truly an honor to stand before you on behalf of my family as we celebrate the life of my father, Henry Jackson Pope Jr.”

He thanked all of the officials who had a role in naming the road after in his father’s honor.

“This is a lasting legacy not only for our family, but the countless lives he’s touched here in Milledgeville,” Jonathan said.

He talked about his father’s humble beginnings working on a 20-acre farm, and his grandparents teaching him invaluable lessons about life. He farmed with a mule and plow. He began working at the bank as a mail courier, pretty much the bottom of the totem pole.

Henry worked himself up the ladder to become the bank’s president and chief executive officer.

“My father was more than a banker,” Jonathan said. “He was a servant leader, a mentor and a friend to many. He never met a stranger. And if you met him, he wore that beautiful smile everywhere he went. He was a wonderful husband, a devoted father, a proud grandfather and a tireless supporter of this community.”