Mary Frances Ginn, a senior from Cartersville, is a fourth generation Bulldog from a family which includes more than a dozen UGA alumni.
Her parents and both her maternal and paternal grandparents are graduates along with a host of uncles, aunts and cousins.
Her UGA legacy began in 1911 when her great grandfather, Candler M. Ginn of Royston, Ga., enrolled in the University. He had two brothers, Stark, ’13, and Rucker, ’14, who also came to UGA and were stars on the UGA baseball team. According to Mary Frances’s late grandfather, Candler’s son Olin W. Ginn, ’42, Stark hit the first home run ever registered in old Sanford Field.
Olin retired from Georgia Power Company and is a former president of the College of Agriculture Alumni Association, and he served for years on the Board of the Ag School’s Eterna Club. His wife is the former Suzanne Merk, ’49, of Athens, who presently lives in Stone Mountain.
Olin and Suzanne had four sons and a daughter – all UGA graduates. Their first son, Candler, is Mary Frances’ father. He graduated in ’80 in Ag Engineering and is with Georgia Power Co. in Atlanta. He lives in Cartersville with his wife, the former Susan Rankin, BA , ‘79, of Macon, Ga., whose father, the late G. Scott Rankin, graduated from Forestry School in 1950.
Mary Frances’ uncle, Olin and Suzanne’s second son, Charles, graduated from Terry College of Business in 1980. He is retired from AT&T and now teaches in Forest Park. He has two daughters who earned degrees from UGA this year. Amy received her AB from Terry College in May and Allison her Masters in Forestry in December.
Her uncle, John Olin Ginn, ‘82, married the former Wendy Whipple who graduated in 1983. He is an accountant in Knoxville, Tenn.
Olin and Suzanne’s fourth son, Franklin J. Ginn, ’85, is County Manager for Franklin County, Ga. He is married to the former Robin Tardy of Athens who received her Masters degree in Education in 1996.
Her aunt, Frances, Olin and Suzanne’s only daughter, received both her undergraduate degree, ’86. and Masters, ’90, in Education from UGA. Her in-laws, Spurgeon (’63) and Mary Frances (’64) graduated from the University.
One other ancestor who graduated from UGA was her great-great uncle Julian C. Hill who received his B.S. in Commerce in 1936.
In addition, her great uncle, Harry Merk, Suzanne’s brother, graduated in 1957 with a degree in Business Administration. He now resides in Waycross, Ga.
