Aviation board member dies while on vacation

ALBANY, Ga. — Bill Underwood, a member of the Albany Aviation Commission and a former county commissioner, has died. He was 65.

Underwood died while on vacation in New Mexico with his wife, Jeannie. No details were immediately available.

Dr. Bill Mayher, chairman of the aviation board, said he learned of Underwood’s passing this morning.

“I’ve known him for years,” Mayher said. “He was a great fellow. He was a fine fellow, honest as the day is long and a good friend.”

Mayher said Underwood was already on the airport board when he joined. “He’s been a great help to us (on the commission),” Mayher said. “He was always very fair. He always wanted to hear from both sides before making a decision.”

He said Underwood had practiced law alone in recent years before his son joined his firm last year.

The Albany attorney was up for re-appointment to the aviation board. Previously, he served on the Dougherty County Commission where he chaired the public safety committee.

Underwood was also a past president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and a member of the Bar Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. An Army veteran, he was a graduate of Georgia Military College and the University of Georgia and the John Marshall Law School.

In 1995, Underwood and his family were the victims of a road-rage shooting in Albany that left his son, then 14, injured when a bullet grazed him.

According to reports, the Underwoods were traveling about 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in April 1995 when Underwood made a U-turn on Dawson Road and an SUV sped past his Land Rover at cut into his lane in front of him.

When they got on the Liberty Expressway, Jeep slowed and Underwood told his son to call police on the cellular phone when he saw the Jeep’s passenger window come down as the SUV rode beside them. Then, he said, his driver’s side window exploded as at least three shots were fired into his vehicle, with one grazing his son’s side.

“I guess we’re all going to have to give up and get handguns,” Underwood told The Albany Herald in 1995. “That’s a sad commentary on our society.”

Two men — Jordan Milton Walker of Albany and Eric Walker of Macon — were each charged with four counts each of aggravated assault, terroristic threats and possession for a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Kimbrell-Stern Funeral Directors is in charge of funeral arrangements.