The kids belonging to Lonnie and Cheryl Love make up a vast group, most of whom participated in the Governor’s Honors Program in Georgia during the 12 years that Lonnie coordinated it.
“They didn’t have any biological children, but there are a lot of us out there who feel like theirs,” said Debbie Daniell, who worked with Love at GHP. “Lonnie wanted GHP to be about lifelong learning and learning outside the box. He wanted it to make a positive difference in the lives of Georgia’s students and for those who worked for him.”
In addition to running GHP, Love served as the coordinator for gifted education in the state. He died at age 87 on Jan. 28 after enduring a variety of health problems.
Reared in tiny McColl, in South Carolina’s Marlboro County, Lonnie Alfred Love was the son of Newby Franklin Love and Amanda Lundy Love. His father was twice a widower, and Lonnie was the 13th of his father’s 14 children. He received a voice scholarship to Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, where he majored in science.
The father of his college roommate was a member of the board of Marietta City Schools who introduced him to the superintendent. In 1960, Love began teaching biology at Marietta High School. From there, he became the head of science education in the State Department of Education, and in 1981, he was tapped to run the Governor’s Honors Program.
Begun in 1963, the program is an intense, multiweek, summer enrichment program for 600 or so high school juniors and seniors, now held on the campus of Georgia Southern. Nominated by their teachers and vetted through a series of interviews, the students spend mornings on their main subjects and afternoons on minor ones. There are recitals, performances and art shows throughout the summer.
“His total interest was having the program provide a life-changing experience for everyone who went there,” said Dale Lyles, who attended in 1970. “I went as an arts major and ended up majoring in theater in college because of GHP.”
In the early 1980s, Love recruited Lyles to GHP because Lyles, a media center director, had been chosen as the STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) teacher. Love tasked Lyles with revitalizing the media support services. Lyles says he taught students how to interact with a university library and how to create a slideshow, among other things.
Another GHP instructor was Stan DeJarnett, who had been in Love’s biology class at Marietta High School. He said that Love “never seemed to sleep” at GHP, making himself available 24 hours a day to students, residence assistants in the summer program and instructors. Some students were homesick, others were ill — Love and his staff handled everything.
“He was always reminding us that we were there for the children,” said DeJarnett, who’s now chairman of the State Board of Education. “I think about that a lot. I got that from Lonnie.”
Professional musician Sarah Paul, who plays the cello, worked as both a resident assistant and a dormitory director at GHP. She became friends with both Lonnie and his wife Cheryl and socialized with them after leaving GHP. Lonnie had “a very fine aesthetic,” she said, paying attention to how a table was set, a room’s decor, a meal presented.
He liked to go “junking” and was also a gourmet cook who delighted in entertaining guests. Love designed furniture and furnishings for friends and their houses.
“He never wanted to do what other people were doing when it came to entertaining, whether it was setting the table or finding a recipe,” said Cheryl Love. “It had to be his.”
Love retired from education in 1995, during the tenure of state school Superintendent Linda Schrenko. In 2006, Schrenko was sent to federal prison on money laundering and fraud charges after a failed 2002 gubernatorial bid and a bungled scheme to pilfer federal grants meant to provide software and other services to deaf and honors students. While Love was working for her, she had asked him to make changes that he didn’t believe were in the best interests of students. Rather than fight, he left, saying “I’m not driving from Marietta to downtown Atlanta to work with that woman,’” Cheryl said.
Lonnie and Cheryl traveled, saw their friends and family and kept in touch with their former students. He delivered Meals on Wheels and sang in both the Presbyterian and the Methodist churches in Marietta. Sarah Paul delighted in eating breakfast with Love.
After the death of Paul’s partner in 2017, “Lonnie invited me to move in with him and Cheryl,” she said. “It was just like him to be so generous.”
In addition to his wife, Lonnie Albert Love is survived by in-laws and nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be at Marietta First United Methodist Church on Monday, Feb. 3, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Cheryl Godsey Love Scholarship at the Marietta Schools Foundation. The scholarship supports a student who wants a career in education.
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