Cherokee County's first magistrate court judge is being remembered today by family and friends.

Services are at 2 p.m. today at Hopewell Baptist Church on Ridge Road for the late Judge William F. "Frank" Gramling, 76, who died on Friday.

Burial will follow in the Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery in Cumming. Darby-Huey Funeral Home in Canton is in charge of the arrangements.

Gramling served as Justice of the Peace for the county from 1970 to 1984. The position was changed to magistrate court judge in 1983, and he was elected to the Republican post until he stepped down from it in 2000.

Former Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Marion T. Pope said Gramling was a "man of the people" - a perfect fit for the court known as the "the people's court."

Pope said while Gramling was not a lawyer, he had plenty of common sense.

"He listened and had a great understanding of what the case was about," he said. "He was a good person. He was honest and courteous and kind and reasonable."

Charles Robertson succeeded Gramling as magistrate court judge in 2000 and then appointed him as a part-time judge. He said Gramling would agonize over cases, sometimes taking months to reach a decision.

"He cared about making the right decision," he said. "Cherokee has lost a tremendous part of its history."

A Canton resident for 75 years, Gramling recently moved to Cumming. He was a graduate of Canton High School and attended the University of Georgia and Georgia State University.

A veteran of the Korean War, Gramling was active in civic organizations such as the Lions Club and Optimist Club and a member of Hopewell Baptist Church.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Bonnie Sosebee Gramling; one daughter, Allison Gramling Bishop, and her husband, Chuck; one granddaughter, Rebecca; three brothers, Cecil and Iola S. Gramling, Wilford and Brenda Gramling and Leon Gramling; sisters-in-law, Jean Gramling and Reatha McConnell; brother-in-law, Lawton Sosebee, and brother- and sister-in-law, Arter and Ozell S. Watkins.

Allison Gramling Bishop said her father cared for the people who came into his courtroom.

"I think he listened to the people he came into contact with and worked with. He gave a fair hearing to everyone. That helped him gain their trust," she said.

Performing weddings, she added, were "always a happy occasion for him."

"That was a good part of his job for him. It made him happy," she said. "He would always try to make them laugh because he knew they were nervous."