William Arthur Fickling Sr.; Made Macon, Ga., Cherry Tree Capital

William Arthur Fickling Sr., 87, a real estate magnate who was credited with making Macon, Ga., the cherry tree capital of the country. Fickling had a passion for Yoshino cherry trees and gave away more than 120,000 of them. The Macon Cherry Blossom Festival was created in his honor. In 1937, Fickling started Fickling Realty Co., and teamed with B. Sanders Walker two years later to form Fickling and Walker Inc. Among Fickling’s survivors is his son, William Fickling Jr., head of Charter Medical Corp. In Macon on Sunday of emphysema.