Funeral services for Bobby Joe Steptoe, 78, of Swainsboro will be  held Saturday, August 12, 2017, at 3PM at Mt. Shady Baptist Church with the Rev. Rusty Moore and Rev. Wayne Page officiating.  Interment followed in the Mt. Shady Baptist Church cemetery.    He passed away Wednesday, August 9, 2017 at the Meadows Regional Hospital in Vidalia, Georgia. The Family will receive friends from  1:00 P.M. until 3:00 P.M.  Saturday at Mt. Shady Baptist Church.

Bobby Joe Steptoe was born on April 13, 1939 to the late G.L. and Ruby Steptoe.  He retired from the Emanuel County Board of Education.  He devoted some twenty-five years with the school system as a bus driver.  Teachers, students and parents have expressed how Mr. Bobby made an impact on the students that rode his bus.  Each student was special and many received nicknames that he gave him or her.  He was a retired farmer.  He loved and took great pride in the family farm on Highway 57 E.   He was a member and senior deacon of Mt. Shady Baptist Church.  He had a great passion for his church and the church family.  His desire was to beautify the church and set a good example for those who came to worship at Mt. Shady.   In January 2012, he was given another name, B-Bop.  Little Isabella was born into the family and this name became common with family and friends.  She was the sparkle of his eye.  He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend.  He was preceded in death by a son, Joey and a sister, Louise Gaudry.

Survivors include his wife, Joyce Edenfield Steptoe, one son David (Kendall) Steptoe, two daughters Diana (Chris) Knight and Janet Steptoe, one granddaughter, Isabella Grace Steptoe all of Swainsboro.  A brother, Billy Steptoe of Dublin and a sister Bonnie Williamson of Oak Park.   A host of nieces, nephews and extended family.  He loved taking care of his fur babies Lulu, Pearlie, Willie, Roscoe, Maggie and Sugar.

Pallbearers were Joey Goodman, Tom Phillips, Jeremy Page, Ray Goodman, Andy Tapley, Jerod Goodman, Mitchell Edenfield, Andy Dixon and Lynn Edenfield.

Honorary pallbearers were Rev. Wilmer Hall, Catherine Page, Gordon and Marie Goodman, Colon and Jean Henry, Dent and Martha Nell Beasley, Gene and Shelba Wilkes, Jessie and Michelle Goodman, Mike and Bonnie Tapley, Mark and Nancy Lumley, Alex and Martha Grindler, Wilbur and Kaye Stephens.

Memorials can be sent in his memory to Mt. Shady Baptist Church Building Fund or the Mt. Shady Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, 630 Sandhill Road, Swainsboro, Georgia