Hank Sturgess: “Decide to Move. Then, Don’t Look Back.”

20 Dec Hank Sturgess: “Decide to Move. Then, Don’t Look Back.”

When Hank Sturgess turned 92 years old earlier in 2013, he decided that the time had come to move from his home in the Mount Vernon Woods neighborhood, where he had lived 56 years, to Mount Vernon Towers.

“It was not an easy decision, and I prayed about it a lot,” notes Mr. Sturgess, an elder of Mount Vernon Baptist Church, who has been teaching Adult Sunday School classes for the past fifty years. “Even though I had – and still have – the option to move to Florida to be with my son and his family, I determined to stay in my beloved neighborhood, close to my long-time friends and church family.”

Mr. Sturgess, who lost Charlotte, his wife of 54 years, already eleven years ago, purchased a two-bedroom condominium in Mount Vernon Towers. “I love the outdoors, and this third floor unit has a great view of a beautiful tree and garden area right off my balcony.”

The original Sturgess residence, situated on ‘an exceptionally beautiful lot’ in the heart of Sandy Springs, sold quickly. The new owners are building a large new home on the property.

“I moved into Mount Vernon Towers on July 10th. Cleaning, sorting and selecting the pieces I wanted to keep for my new place was a big project, but it went pretty smoothly thanks to the excellent help of a Lifestyle Transitions team.

“I treasure all the memories of the great times our family celebrated in our house, and I have hung many of Charlotte’s paintings on the walls of my new condominium. Already, I am very much at home here,” says Mr. Sturgess. “When I walked through our family home for the last time, I had a very objective feeling. It just wasn’t my house anymore.”

In 1931, Mr. Sturgess moved to Atlanta as a ten-year old. He graduated from Emory University in 1942 and served as an Officer in the US Navy on a destroyer in the South Pacific. He started his professional career in residential real estate, soon switching to commercial real estate, and joined a national real estate firm where he worked mainly with institutional clients, and then started his own commercial real estate brokerage firm.

“I’m glad that I made the move. It was not easy, but I did not look back. And now, I am very comfortable here.”