Mr. Joseph Derwin Gay, 69

Mr. Joseph Derwin Gay, 69, of Hazlehurst, passed away Sept. 20 at his home.
He was born Dec. 8, 1955, in McRae to the late Ralph Derwin Gay and Reva Jo Ray Taylor, and lived most of his life in Jeff Davis County. He was an electrician for over 46 years and was a member of Southside Baptist Church.
Joe’s life is beautifully described by his son, Kasey’s, words:
“My dad wasn’t just smart — he was otherworldly. The kind of genius that didn’t wear a suit or sit in a lab. He wore dirt on his boots and carried his brilliance like a shadow — always there, always quiet, but impossible to ignore once you noticed it.
“He held three track records at his high school — unchallenged for 40 years. And he was once unofficially clocked breaking the world record for the mile, barefoot, on a field track. But he never bragged. Hell, he barely spoke on it. His greatness was the kind that didn’t need a crowd.
“He grew up in the woods and the swamps. Born of nature, raised by grit. I’ve seen him shoot the eyeball out of a squirrel with a slingshot from what had to be 50 yards. Seen him build entire homes with nothing but scraps and stubbornness. If it was broken, he fixed it. If it didn’t exist, he built it. He never bought what he could make. And he could make damn near anything.
“His hero was Tesla, and he damn near became one. A savant when it came to engineering — electrical, mechanical, structural — you name it. He studied constantly. Books, schematics, concepts most people couldn’t even pronounce. But the world never saw it. He never got his platform. Never got his due.
“He was cold, especially to the ones he was trying to mold. Maybe too cold sometimes. But he believed pressure made diamonds, and he didn’t raise kids — he forged us. Still, underneath that steel skin was the warmest heart. He helped the ones society cast out. The misfits. The broken. The boys and men nobody else gave a damn about. Somehow, they found him — and he gave them the one thing they needed most: belief. I watched how men stood taller after talking to him. How they started carrying themselves like they mattered.
“He never got famous. Never got rich. But damn if he wasn’t one of the greatest men I’ve ever known. And here’s the thing: I didn’t even realize how much of him I carried until I started writing all this down. My parenting, my grit, my wiring — it all echoes back to him.
“He was a quiet storm. A builder. A mentor. A ghost of greatness walking in plain sight. And I was lucky enough to call him Dad. And even luckier to still do.”
In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his grandson Austin Riley Spires.
Survivors include sons Eddie Jo Gay (Ella) of Jacksonville, Fla., and Joseph Kason Herrington (Lilly) of Hazlehurst; sister Donna Foskey of Hazlehurst; grandchildren Jacie Jones (Landon), Brooklyn Herrington, and Riley Herrington; great-grandson Sawyer Lee Jones; and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and children he treated as his own.
Services were held Sept. 29 in the chapel of Wainright-Parlor Funeral Home with the Rev. Andy Williams officiating.
Burial followed in the Gay Family Cemetery.
Active pallbearers were Wade Gay, Melvin Gay, Adrian Gay, David Bundrick, Anthony Gay and Michael Griffin.
Honorary pallbearers were the nurses and staff of Regency Southern Care Hospice.
Wainright-Parlor Funeral Home was in charge.