J. Philip Cleaveland was remembered Friday as a self-made man who was well-liked by those who knew him.

Memorial services for the longtime LaGrange business and civic leader are scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church followed by lunch in the fellowship hall. Cleaveland, 90, died Thursday night at LaGrange Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on West Point Road.

He was a former president and treasurer of Callaway Mills Co., and a group president of Milliken & Co. He had retired as vice president and general manager of Interstate/Johnson Lane, and was a director of Charitable Services Co., Commercial Bank & Trust Co., Georgia Heart Clinic and the Troup County Heart Association.

He was a former trustee of Camp Viola, the Callaway and Fuller E. Callaway foundations, and served three terms on LaGrange City Council. He served as a trustee from 1978 to 1997 at LaGrange College, which named its baseball field for him in 1999.

“Having the baseball complex named in his honor is an everlasting symbol of his enthusiastic support of LaGrange College and this community,” his son, Jerry Cleaveland, said in a letter to college President Stuart Gulley.

“From my earliest childhood memories, through my teenage years and my adult life, I have watched a man support his family, lead in his church, inspire in his community, all the while fostering a work ethic evidenced by a remarkable business career.”

He said his father’s rules were simple - “respect and obey your mother, go to Sunday school and church, and, finally, be nice to people.”

Gulley said Cleaveland served the college and community “with great love and distinction,” adding, “We have all lost a dear friend and a man of much wit and wisdom.”

A 1936 graduate of LaGrange High School, where he played center on the football team, Philip Cleaveland was a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army Air Force, having been discharged as a captain after serving in China, Burma and India.

He was a longtime board chairman of the Georgia Heart Clinic, where the cardiac rehab facility was named in his honor in 2006.

He would have been a member of the LaGrange Lions Club for 62 years on May 1 and had held virtually every office in the club, including president.

“He was the nicest guy,” said the Rev. Doug DeCelle, his pastor at First Presbyterian. “Everybody talked about him being a sweet person. I never ran into anyone who didn’t like him. He was particularly kind to me.”

Charles Hudson, 82, who served with Cleaveland on the board at LaGrange College, knew him when Cleaveland was working behind the soda fountain at Davis Pharmacy before joining Callaway Mills.

“He was a dear friend of mine, an excellent textile operator and an excellent citizen,” Hudson said. “He did a lot of good, had a lot of friends and enjoyed his friends. He was a self-made man who worked hard all his life.”

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews .com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.