Hometown Rankin - June & July 2017

After the family invested the twenty years of time plus
hard work in the Mississippi heat, they sold the landscaping
business that had grown to be the largest landscaping business
in Mississippi.
In 1998, after selling out and making it Truitt’s second
retirement, he chose an inside job with Community Bank in
charge of Golden Advantage which covers senior deposits and
group travels.
Here they made more friends and got their first real taste
of travel. The Community Bank employment lasted eighteen
years with a busload of travel miles and great memories.
Rocking chairs still don’t interest the Grubbs. At 82, Truitt
enjoys tending his 125-acre long-leaf pine farm in Simpson
County where he and Georgia have additional roots. They
purchased and combined two log cabins (1867 and 1890
versions) to make a spacious retreat for family gatherings and
events. Truitt is also active in restoration of his Simpson County
Pinola High School.
When these two notable Brandonites reminisce about earlier
days, Truitt remembers speaking with a person years ago
concerning Rankin County. The man told Truitt, “When I think
of Rankin County, I think of an old farmer, an old truck with a
gun rack and three hound dogs in the back.” Not anymore!
“It’s a county of great law enforcement, good schools –
thanks to good, strong judges. The highways and byways have
been other major accomplishments,” Truitt believes.
Georgia looks back to the safety of raising their children in
the Crossgates neighborhood, but the lake carried its fear of fish
hooks and drownings. When the city drained the lake, she saw that
it was only two feet deep. “If I had known that, I wouldn’t have
worried so much,” she said as she and Truitt laughed together.
“In Brandon, you seem to know everybody and trying matters
here,” Truitt continued. He remembers Carl Lofton whose life
Truitt tries to model. “He was my Vo-Ag teacher with high
principles. I tried to catch him doing wrong but never did.”
The Grubbs three children, with their families, live within
twelve miles of Truitt and Georgia. Candice Perkins, their
daughter, is a school teacher in Flowood. Roe Grubbs, a former
mayor of Brandon, is the director of Capital Properties, and
Matt is regional sales manager for Taylor Power Generators.
The Grubbs are counting on their seven grandchildren to
continue their legacy. Truitt’s mother helped define that legacy
when she gave him these instructions: Be the best, and be the
leader in your community.
Truitt has always remembered those instructions, and his
companion of sixty years affirms, “And he is the best!” n
Hometown Rankin • 13