John Morgan Outler III, 79, died Dec. 13, 2008, at Northeast Georgia Medical Center following a brief struggle with cancer. He was born in Atlanta on Jan. 6, 1929, to Florence Dell and John M. Outler Jr. and was preceded in death by his parents and sisters, Ann Alder and Joyce Outler. Active in the Boy Scouts, he achieved the rank of Eagle as a youth and remained active in Scouting into adulthood. He graduated from North Fulton High School and from Emory University, where he was in the KA fraternity. After joining the Army in 1951 and being a member of the first group to receive basic training in Hawaii, he returned to the states for OCS and achieved the rank of 2nd lieutenant. After honorable discharge in 1953, he married and began a family in Atlanta. During his working life, John served Emory University as director of human resource development, Wesley Homes as education director and Kowalsky Tax and Financial Counseling as an organizational consultant. After retirement he moved to Hall County in North Georgia, where he became a Master Gardener, expanding his lifelong love of gardening. Other interests were his family, the study of birds, woodworking, reading and keeping up with Wall Street news. John is survived by his wife of 55 years, Helen; daughter, Laura and her husband Ken Bowen of Lilburn; daughter, Elaine Outler of Los Gatos, Calif.; son, John M. Outler IV of Atlanta; son, Tom and his wife Kimberly Bell of Albuquerque, N.M.; and grandchildren, Alex, Emily and Mary Helen Bowen and Nicolas Outler. A memorial will be held at Smithgall Woodland Garden (address following) on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, at 11 a.m. To honor his life, contributions may be made to Smithgall Woodland Garden, 351 Lakehill Drive, Gainesville, GA 30501. Cremation Society of the South in Marietta is in charge of the arrangements; 770-420-5557.