George Manning Rountree

A native of St. Simons Island, he is pre-deceased by parents, Isaac “Ike” Lester Rountree and Mary Elizabeth “Susie” Owens Rountree, longtime island residents. Ike was co-founder of J.C. Strother Co in the Pier Village, and Susie was descended from the first colonial settlers of coastal Georgia.

George is survived by his wife, Donna Smith Rountree; sister, Becky Rountree Corbett (Luke) of Edmond, Oklahoma; brother, Isaac “Butch” Rountree (Betsy) of Yulee, Florida; children, Manning Rountree (Kendall Hoyt) of Lyme, New Hampshire; Burch Rountree Barger (Jim Jr.) of St. Simons Island; and Bailey Rountree of Whitefish, Montana; and grandchildren, Eli Rountree, Rhys Rountree, James Barger III, and George Barger.

In his youth, George enjoyed playing baseball at Mallery Park where he relished meeting Joe DiMaggio when the legendary homerun hitter visited the island in the 1950s. A 1960 graduate of Glynn Academy, George was a four-year baseball letterman for the Terrors before matriculating to Florida State University where he played first base and competed twice in the college world series. Upon graduating from Florida State, he entered law school in 1964 at the University of Georgia, where he met then-undergraduate Nancy Nalley (now Wood) whom he later married and who became the mother of their three children.

In 1967, U.S. Senator Richard Russell recommended the recent law graduate to J. Edgar Hoover for a position in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After training in Quantico, Virginia, George spent three years as an FBI agent in Boston and New York investigating bank robberies.

In 1970, George entered private law practice, first in Alma, Georgia with Jones & Rountree. Five years later, he returned to the Golden Isles and co-founded Rountree & Tuten with James Tuten who later became a Superior Court Judge. George served a variety of clients in all areas of the law for 29 years from his office on G Street, an historic Victorian-style house that was his mother’s childhood home. The two previous generations of George’s maternal relatives used the home as both a residence for raising families and a temporary jail for housing prisoners during the Owens’ 120-year unbroken legacy in local law enforcement dating back to the late 1800s.

In 2004, George was sworn in as judge of the juvenile court, a position he held for twenty years and which he regarded as his primary legacy: to serve youth by seeking to alleviate their suffering, address the underlying causes of their trauma, and offering restorative – rather than punitive – justice.

In addition to his wife, siblings, and children, George is survived by stepchildren Trip Tollison (Tracey) of Savannah; Leigh Tollison Veal (Zachry) of St. Simons Island; Maggie Tollison Rhodes (Gray) of Townsend; and Jessica Tollison Temples (Joe) of Brunswick and step grandchildren Hank and Lula Tollison; Thomas, Smith, and Eliza Veal; Charlie and Henry Rhodes; Ella and Trey Bunn; and Mollie and Sam Temples.

George will be remembered as a gifted storyteller who loved history and spent his free time researching and writing his memoirs of coastal Georgia.

The public is invited to attend a memorial at 11:00 am on Saturday, March 16 at St. Simons First Baptist Church; family members will hold a private graveside service at 11:00 am at Christ Church Cemetery on Tuesday, March 19.

Memorial donations may be made to any of the several nonprofit organizations serving coastal Georgia children. As a judge, George recognized many gaps in the juvenile system and appreciated the host of people who struggle to meet the needs of at-risk