A Fayette County institution has passed away. Robert Jordan, 79, the owner of the landmark Jordan Sales & Salvage on Jeff Davis Drive at West Lanier Avenue in Fayetteville, died Wednesday.
He leaves Nellie, his wife of 60 years, a son, two brothers, a sister, grandchildren and innumerable friends and former customers.
The funeral will be Saturday, Dec. 20, at 1 p.m. at the Fayetteville First Baptist Church Church.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Mowell Funeral Home, which provided the following obituary:
Mr. Robert Jordan of Jordan Sales & Salvage was born in Fayetteville, Georgia in 1935 and has lived in the county his entire life. He started his career in retail at the age of 17 while he was employed at the long-closed Travis Hardware which was near where the Twisted Taco is today.
Jordan remembers in those early years while serving in the hardware business he occasionally had reason to visit various warehouses, and he would notice items seemingly not for sale and placed off to the side. Over time, Jordan got the notion that he could buy some of those items at steeply discounted rates, take them back to downtown Fayetteville and sell them at a profit for himself while still offering a discount from retail to his customers.
By 1956, Jordan had two books of customers. He, of course, had his hardware store customers, who by then he had been serving for around four years, and he had other customers who visited him at his new shoeshine stand, which he ran from rented space located where Jordan Sales & Salvage is now.
By the early 1970s, Mr. Jordan was giving his full-time attention to buying and selling salvage merchandise. His business became popular and profitable.
If you want to know anything about the Fayette County community, Mr. Jordan was the man to ask. Old timers and those new to the county visited Mr. Jordan to look around or just hang out. Being in retail all of his life, Mr. Jordan said he has learned to like people and get along with people.
Mr. Jordan has been married to his wife of 60 years, Nellie. On sharing the secret to a long marriage, Mr. Jordan said, “Just love the woman you marry.”
On Wednesday, December 16, 2014, the Lord called for Mr. Robert Jordan, Sr. Robert was born on March 10, 1935 to the late Lawrence Jordan and Emma Henderson Jordan of Fayetteville, Georgia. He was preceded in death by his brother, Homer Lee Jordan, on November 26, 2014. He joined Merrill Chapel United Methodist Church at an early age.
Robert attended the Fayette County School System in Fayetteville, Georgia. He was known for wheeling and dealing, his love and compassion for his family, workers on the Corner and all the customers and friends he met on the Corner.
He leaves to cherish his memory a devoted wife of 60 years, Mrs. Nellie Ruth Jordan; a loving son, Robert (Cynthia) Jordan, Jr.; two brothers Lawrence (Joyce) Jordan and Joe Henry Jordan; sisters-in-law, Jennete Jordan and Annie Lois Jordan; one sister, Sarah Palmore; grandchildren Keyontis Jordan, Jennifer, Jade, Alecia, Michael, Mikeisha, Lachasha, D’Asia, Tia and Lark McCants, LaQuita and Mario Searcy; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 20, 2014, at 1 p.m. in the Worship Center of Fayetteville First Baptist Church (205 Stonewall Avenue).
Visitation will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday at the church. Anyone desiring to show their respects may stop by the funeral home on Friday between the hours of 12 p.m. and 5 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Robert’s memory to Merrill Chapel United Methodist Church (430 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville).
Carl J Mowell & Son, Fayetteville.
[Top right, Robert Jordan in a photo by Dean Breest taken earlier this year.]
