Talmage Lamar Dryman Jr. (Tal), age 95, passed away peacefully of natural causes Friday morning, January 15th, 2021. Tal was born to Talmage Lamar and Pearl Sherman Dryman on March 10, 1925 at Georgia Baptist Hospital. After finishing Morningside Elementary, he attended O’Keefe Junior High School where he was the editor of the school paper. Based on grades and activities, he received the Hastings Honor Point for outstanding leadership.
Eager to graduate from Boys High early, he doubled up on classes and graduated in the spring of 1942, where he ran on the track team, managed the basketball team, and was feature editor for the school yearbook.
Tal studied at Georgia Tech, where he was elected president of the Chi Phi fraternity and served in the Naval ROTC, earning his B.S. in industrial management and his commission in the USNR as an Ensign simultaneously in 1945. Two weeks after graduating a year ahead of schedule, he embarked for the Pacific to serve as a gunnery officer on the USS Tennessee battleship. While serving, he traveled around the world and crossed the Equator all before his 21st birthday. He remained in the Naval Reserves for almost 16 years.
After the war, Tal continued his education at Georgia Tech and earned a master’s degree in industrial management. In 1948, Tal married Dorothy Latimer Spratlin, whom he had met in high school. The couple moved to Boston, where Tal studied at Harvard Business School, and they returned to Atlanta where Tal began his distinguished career in real estate. With F.W. Woolworth Co., Tal served as Regional Supervisor of Real Estate in the southern region. He then moved to New York, where he was in the executive office as Zone Supervisor for the eastern half of the US. While in New York, the family resided in Bronxville, NY, where Tal belonged to Siwanoy Country Club and The Reformed Church of Bronxville. During that time, Dorothy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and the two returned to Atlanta to be closer to their recently widowed mothers. Dorothy died at the age of 52 in 1977.
Back home, Tal joined the First National Bank of Atlanta as Vice President and General Manager during the building and leasing of the Bank Tower at Five Points. From that completed project, he moved to Colony Square as Executive Vice President and General Partner, and finally as President of Peachtree Center from which he retired in 1975.
Tal met Joanne Dowling Dominey through mutual friends, and they married in 1983. They resided at Pine Hill Place for 33 years before moving to Lenbrook in 2015. They enjoyed traveling – often with friends – to Bermuda, Sea Island, Puerto Rico, several spots in Mexico, their condominium in Amelia Island Plantation and a weeklong cruise across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2. They enjoyed many visits to the home of Joanne’s sister Zannie and her husband Bob in Cashiers, NC.
Tal greatly enjoyed being outdoors and working in his yard. He had a deep appreciation for wildlife, and faithfully fed the birds, squirrels, opossums, racoons, and several families of feral cats who lived near his home.
Tal always had a funny joke or a story to tell. Whenever any of his children introduced him to one of their friends, he always came prepared with a funny story about their mother, father, aunt, or uncle.
Tal played golf and tennis, read mostly non-fiction, particularly history, and devoured the weekly newspaper Barron’s every Saturday. He was a member of the Capital City Club, Piedmont Driving Club, the Commerce Club, Midtown Rotary Club, The Breakfast Club, and Investments Unlimited. Tal was a devoted longtime member of First Presbyterian Church where he taught Sunday School and served as a deacon and an elder.
Tal was President of the National Alumni Association of Georgia Tech and maintained close ties and a dedicated commitment for decades. He served on the board of the Georgia Tech Greater Atlanta Club and chaired the Joint Tech-Georgia Development Fund from 1980-1988, during which time he received the Simon Selig Jr. Award in recognition of outstanding commitment to quality higher education in Georgia. In 2012, he received the Joseph Mayo Pettit Distinguished Service Award for Exemplary Service and Dedication to the Institute. He also served on the boards of the Rabun Gap Nacoochee School and the President’s Advisory Board of Oglethorpe University. He was awarded the Silver Beaver and the Silver Antelope awards from the Boy Scouts of America.
Tal served on the board of many charitable organizations including Goodwill Industries, Cerebral Palsy Center, National Multiple Sclerosis Society (Georgia Chapter), Frazer Center, and Southeastern Regional Advisory Board of the Institute of International Education.
He is survived by his wife Joanne Dowling Dryman and his children Tal Dryman III (Judith), John Dryman (Susannah), Dorothy “Deedy” Dryman, all of Atlanta, Sandy Dominey Lovell (Mark) of Savannah, Daniel Dowling Dominey (Lynn), of Douglasville, his grandchildren Taylor Dryman Wilmer (Harry), Johnny Dryman, Daniel Dominey (Nicole), Robert Talmage Dominey, Alex Lovell (Jenna), and Thomas Dominey. He will also be missed by his sister-in-law Alexandra “Zannie” Scheel (Robert) of Inglewood, Fla. and three great-grandchildren, Wyatt Hawthorne Wilmer, James Dowling Dominey, and Joanne Marie Dominey. He was predeceased by his parents and his two older sisters, Ellen Lamar Dryman Roberts and Mary Sherman Dryman Yancey.
A family graveside service was held on Thursday at Westview Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please make contributions in Tal’s name to the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, 1328 Peachtree St., NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 or online at www.firstpresatl.org/give
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