John William Mayher, Jr. 84, of Midland, Georgia, passed away Saturday, September 13, 2025 surrounded by his family. Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday, September 18 at 2:00 pm at St. Paul Church, Columbus, Georgia with Rev. Dr. Shane Green and Rev. Norman Dunlap officiating. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, September 17 in The Mill Room of Striffler Hamby from 5:00-7:00 pm. A private interment will follow immediately after the service.
John, son of the late Dr. John William Mayher and Dorothy Illges Mayher, was born February 17, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois during his father’s medical internship at Cooke County Hospital. The family moved back to his mother’s hometown of Columbus, where he attended St. Elmo Elementary School and Clubview School. He attended Riverside Military Academy and graduated from Columbus High School in 1959. After graduation, he attended Georgia Southwestern and Columbus College.
An avid sportsman, John loved everything about the outdoors. He purchased property in Midland, where he raised his family and created Grey Rock Farms. There, he bred and trained Tennessee Walking Horses. He competed in horse shows all over the south, including the National Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration in Shelbyville, Tennessee. On the farm, he also raised cattle. When the herd outgrew Grey Rock Farms, he partnered with Harold Goodman and the two raised cattle throughout northern Muscogee County and Harris County.
John was also a licensed private pilot. He and his friend Pearce Massey owned a Cessna 172 and they enjoyed flying in the Chattahoochee Valley area and to air shows throughout the Southeast.
Quail hunting was always a passion of Mr. Mayher. In 1988, he established Greenfield Hunting Preserve and Sporting Clays in Pittsview, AL, where some of the finest quail hunting in the South was enjoyed by customers, friends, and family.
One of the original founding members of the “Lake Harding Hoodlums,” John spent most of his life enjoying “The River” with his family and his childhood friend, the late Charlie Boy Hudson.
Mr. Mayher was a member of the Big Eddy Club, and was a former board member of the National Civil War Naval Museum. He was also a supporter of the National Infantry Museum.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters Betty Jean Mayher Ward and Margaret Mayher Badcock, and an infant daughter Jennifer Shannon Mayher. He is survived by his wife, Ginny Lee Mayher; his sister, Dorothy Mayher Shepard; children and bonus-children, Natalye Mayher, Joy Mayher Bohn (Todd), John Mayher III (Linda), Lisa Brady Solomon (Scott), Cheryl Brady Norton (Greg), Rem Brady (Bardie); grandchildren, Brent Benefield, Will Solomon (Jaclyn), Carly Nordhues (Eric), McKenney Spence (Matt), Rem Brady (Amy), Lawson Brady, Shannon Hamric (Andrew), Benjamin Sloan, Tommy Mayher, and Wynn Mayher; his children’s mothers, Peggy Sweet Shappard and Joyce Cone Mayher; 10 great-grandchildren and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
In leiu of flowers, donations can be made to Columbus Hospice.
