Gerald Lawhorn, 62, started the Griffin-based PetroSouth chain
By KEVIN DUFFY

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

You can’t drive too far from Atlanta without seeing one of those gas stations — white with blue and red banding and an oval sign that says Petro.

South Georgia native Gerald Lawhorn started the Griffin-based PetroSouth chain in 1969. It grew to more than 300 locations in Alabama and Florida, as well as Georgia.

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Three years ago, Gerald Lawhorn learned he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Petro stations can be found in McDonough, Canton, Douglasville, Kennesaw and dozens of other towns.

Filling stations made Lawhorn rich and he lived well, buying rare antiques — including ornate furniture by John Henry Belter — and 1,777 acres near Albany called Cypress Pond Plantation.

The former Eagle Scout from Sylvester also lavished money on the Boy Scouts, purchasing 500 acres for a canoe base and another 200 acres later.

In the early 1980s, Lawhorn invented a system where gas could be bought at the pump using a credit or debit card. BuyPass the System, however, was slow to catch on, so it was sold to a Canadian company, National Business Systems.

Three years ago, Lawhorn learned he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease. It destroys a person’s ability to move, talk and eventually to breathe.

Lawhorn’s response was to start als-link.org, a Web site offering support to ALS sufferers.

The disease threw off his plans to retire to Cypress Pond Plantation and entertain quail-hunting friends. So he put the property on the market last year for $21 million.

Last week, it was still for sale when Lawhorn, 62, died at his home in Albany.

The funeral was held at Gillionville Baptist Church in his hometown. A celebration of his life is planned for Oct. 25 at the Gerald I. Lawhorn Scouting Base, a 2,400-acre recreation area in Molena, between LaGrange and Barnesville.

“It’s going to be upbeat,” daughter Leslie Neely said. “That’s what he wanted.”

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