John Drewry Nations, chairman and founder of Macon, Ga.-based Bearings and Drives Inc. , passed away in October. He was 88.

Nations founded Bearings and Drives in Griffin, Ga., in 1947, after returning home from World War II. The industrial distributorship specializes in bearings and power transmission products.

By the mid-1960s, Bearings and Drives had five locations in Georgia and was a charter member of the Bearings Specialists Assn., which it still supports. Bearings and Drives now employs 300 people and has 35 locations in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Nations was married for 63 years to the late Nancy Johnson Nations. He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, Michael and Mary Jane Nations of Atlanta, and Andy and Carolyn Nations of Macon; and his daughter and son-in-law, Nancy and Cliff Davis of Monroe, Ga. His son Andy continues to run B&D Industrial, the holding company that operates Bearings & Drives and two other divisions, Scale Systems and B&D Service.