Services were held recently for George William Godwin Jr. of Lake Circle. Godwin, 71, died April 28 at his home. A native of Terry, Godwin was the only child of George W. Godwin and Eugenia Birdsong Godwin. He was raised in Jackson where he was graduated from Central High School and attended the University of Mississippi and Millsaps College. Godwin had retired in 1997 from Godwin Group, Mississippi's oldest and largest advertising and public relations firm, which was founded by his parents in 1937. He joined the agency in 1947 and became a partner in 1956. While at Godwin Group he saw the agency "grow to be recognized as one of the Top 50 Southeast Advertising Agencies by AdWeek magazine ". He was known as a man of integrity, vision and generosity by his friends and colleagues. While a partner at Godwin, he was , an advisor to several Mississippi governors in the 1960s and 1970s and, responsible for a number of innovative programs designed to stimulate dramatic economic growth in the state, including the concept of the Research and Development Center and a joint stateprivate venture which resulted in the world-class shipyard at Pascagoula. He was a leader in the creation of the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television. A plan for preserving and revitalizing downtown Jackson called for a partly elevated Capitol Street mall, a north-south promenade from the Capitol to the terminus in a multiplex civic center and a ring transportation system converging in the area of the King Edward Hotel and the railroad station. He was a Knight Commander in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Due to his sense of history, he developed a succession plan before his retirement to help assure the agency bearing his family name would continue.

The Northside Sun