Former Fairhope High School football coach Joseph H. “Joe” Compton died Friday at his home in Fitzgerald, Ga.

Funeral services were Sunday at Arbor Baptist Church in Fitzgerald, Ga., with the Rev. Dr. Lloyd Stembridge officiating.  The Rev. Danny Hughes and Robert Sherrill will deliver eulogies.  Interment will follow in the Evergreen Cemetery.

Coach Compton tallied a record of 18-2 in the two years he served at Fairhope High School during the late 1950s. He later was honored for his teaching and coaching in Georgia and North Carolina.

Fairhope native Robert Nelson remembers being Coach Compton’s first quarterback when he arrived in Baldwin County. He called The Courier with his recollections.

“His first year, he was 8 and 2, and we won the Baldwin County championship and the Gulf Coast championship,” Nelson said. “His record the second year was 10-0.

“We were the Baldwin County champs, the Gulf Coast champs, the state champs, and he was Coach of the Year for 1A,” Nelson added.

Coach Compton was a native of Tuscaloosa and a graduate of Sylacauga High School and the University of Alabama. He began his coaching career during 1957 in Fitzgerald. From there, he moved to Fairhope to coach and serve as athletic director before moving back to Fitzgerald.

He was a veteran of the Korean War and did post-graduate work at the universities of Alabama, Georgia and Florida State. He was honored as a teacher and coach in both Georgia and North Carolina, where he is a member of the North Carolina Football Hall of Fame.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Audis D. Compton of Fitzgerald; two daughters and sons-in-law,  Cyndy and Jeff Wade of Kingston, Tenn., and Beth and Brett Jerkins of Americus, Ga.; a son-in-law,  David Maxwell of Summerville, S.C.; and six grandchildren.

In addition to his parents, Charles Earl & Myrtice Hodges Compton, he was preceded in death by a daughter,  Dawn Maxwell; two brothers,  Charles Earl Compton, Jr., and Byrd McKinley Compton; and a sister,  Lurames Farris.

Funeral services were Sunday at Arbor Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. Lloyd Stembridge officiating.  The Rev. Danny Hughes and Robert Sherrill delivered eulogies.  Interment followed in the Evergreen Cemetery.

The family suggests memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 100 Central Avenue South, Tifton, Ga. 31794, to the Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Humane Society, 106 Lions Park Road, Fitzgerald, Ga. 31750, or to the Joe & Audis Compton Scholarship Fund, c/o Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Foundation North, 667 Perry House Road, Fitzgerald, Ga. 31750.