A reward is being offered in the case of a Bowdon man who died several days after being severely beaten.

Julian Lovvorn Spruill, 80, died Wednesday from injuries he received during a possible robbery at his home on Highway 100 South on Sunday, Nov. 11. Spruill was found by his son around 8:30 that night and, according to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, had been beaten and choked.

Sheriff Terry Langley said a $5,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Spruill’s death.

“We just believe there are people in the community who have information,” Langley said. “We hope this encourages them.”

Anyone with information can call 770-214-3596 and all personal information will be kept confidential.

Spruill’s family described him as a hard-working man who loved his family, especially the children.

Although 17 years younger than him, Gladys Bennett would wait every day for her brother to get home from work.

“I would jump off the porch and into his arms,” she said. “On Friday, he would always bring me a bag of candy.”

He continued to care for children until his death.

“The man dearly loved children,” said Jim Bennett, Gladys’ husband. “The last picture we have of him was made in our dining room and he’s holding one of Gladys’ great-nieces. His eyes are just beaming holding that child.”

Winford Spruill, four years younger than Julian, was always close to his brother.

“I used to go down to Julian’s twice a week,” he said. “He never got tired of me being there. He always wanted me to stay longer.”

Growing up the brothers were especially close. Until their third brother John, known to most people as Greene, was out of diapers, the two boys shared a bed.

“He never wanted me to touch him,” Winford said.

Although he never woke up after being attacked, Gladys said her brother was sometimes responsive.

“I could touch his toes and he’d jerk back,” she said.

Spruill left school in ninth or tenth grade and began working in clothing factories. In the early 1940s, he began working for the Bremen-Bowdon Investment Co. and was made a plant foreman in 1946. He worked there for 33 years before retiring and going back to work on his family’s farm.

Even when he was doing factory work, Winford Spruill said his brother would use his vacation time to help work on the family farm.

“He was very social,” Jim Bennett said. “He had a good work ethic.”

When he did start taking vacations, Gladys said her brother enjoyed deep sea fishing, often with co-workers.

Winford said Spruill was also close with several of their cousins who were around his age.

As a young man, Spruill was strong-willed. Winford said when he was 16, Spruill was able to ride a very stubborn mule.

“Daddy bought a mule and the man he bought it from told him, ‘Make sure the boys don’t try to ride the mule,’” he said. After wearing it down with plowing, Spruill was able to ride the mule.

“He was strong-willed,” Jim Bennett said. “Even at 80 years old he was independent.”

“I used to ask him if he needed anything,” Gladys added. “He’d always say, ‘No, I’m fine.’”

After finally giving up farm work, Gladys said Spruill still traded cows sometimes and kept busy.

“Every morning he drove to the Ranburne Senior Center to play Rook,” she said. “He’d play Rook, eat lunch and come back. If I ever needed him in the morning I knew where he was.”

The day he died, Gladys said Spruill went to the funeral of a distant relative and then went home with the plan of coming back for church services that evening. He was attacked sometime that afternoon or evening and never regained consciousness before his death.

“We kept hoping he’d wake up and tell us who did it,” Gladys said. “I was sure he knew.”

For most of his 10 days in the hospital Spruill was in intensive care and family members could have only limited visits. The day before he died, Spruill was moved into hospice care where there were no limits on visitors. Jim Bennett said Spruill died with his family around him.

“He was good to us,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better brother-in-law.”

“After we got grown, we’d get into an argument about something or another,” Winford said. “It looked like we would fight but we never did. We always loved each other. No three brothers and a sister have been as close all of their lives as we’ve been.”