Deputy's Life-Saving Dedication Praised As David Headrick Is Names Whitfield County Employee Of The Year For 2015

To Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office Deputy David Headrick, something just didn’t look right on that July day.

He and other co-workers had been dispatched to New Hope Road to do a welfare check on an elderly resident. They discovered the house open but no one home after looking inside.

Some officers might have left at that point and advised dispatch they didn’t see anybody.

But Deputy Headrick wasn’t so sure everything was all right. He informed his fellow deputies they needed to search the area. 

Deputy Headrick himself was searching in a wooded area behind the residence when he found the 82-year-old man on the ground in some  high grass and briars. He had fallen and had been on the ground for more than an hour.

The officers rendered aid until an ambulance arrived and transported the man to the hospital. If Deputy Headrick had not located the elderly man, he likely would not have been able to survive the heat on that summer day.

That’s just one example of the outstanding service provided by Deputy Headrick, who was recognized as Whitfield County Employee of the Year for 2015 during the annual Employee Recognition Luncheon on Dec. 2 at the recreation department gym.

“The 2015 Employee of the Year arrives at work each day with a positive attitude and gets along well with his co-workers,” Commission Chairman Mike Babb said. “This employee strives to do a good job and always gives 110 percent in all aspects of his job.  He interacts extremely well with our citizens and is well known in Whitfield County.

“This employee is a good communicator with the citizens,” Comm. Babb said, “and this behavior enables him to obtain needed information to solve criminal cases and find suspects. He always takes the initiative to do more without being told to do so. Taking the initiative has enabled him to solve some serious cases this year, including an armed robbery and saving an elderly man’s life.”

Other nominees for Employee of the Year included Sharon Ratcliff, 911; Chris Cline, Sheriff’s Office; Rusty Gregg, Information Technology; Dalton Dunbar, 911; Kerry Page, Sheriff’s Office; Steve Adams, Buildings & Grounds; Kim Fowler, Sheriff’s Office; Larry Taylor, Information Technology; and Carol Roberts, Finance.

Other employees were also recognized during the luncheon, including 2015 retirees Jimmy Thorne, Sheriff’s Office, 25 years of service; Annie Hyde, Probate Court, 16 years; Elizabeth Sue Gibson, Sheriff’s Office, 25 years; Helen Dailey, Buildings & Grounds, 19 years; R. Scott Denson, Fire Department, 32 years; and Robert Stephenson, Public Works, 16 years.

Service awards were presented to several employees by Commissioners Babb, Roger Crossen, Lynn Laughter, and Barry Robbins:

Five Years:

Michael Blair and Cody Ruddell, Fire; Miryam Ramirez-Najera, Juvenile Court; Rosa Martinez-Melendrez, Magistrate; Jacob Bearden, MPO; DeWayne Hunt, Public Works; Brian Chastain, Recreation; Brandon Dalton, Kayla Franks, Juan Martinez, and Suzanne Thorne, Sheriff; Nathanael Styles and Cameron Ward, Sheriff/Correctional Center; Sharon Cooper, Board of Tax Assessors; Sharon Chambers, Tax Commissioner’s Office; William Rector Jr., Transit; and Chris Cooper, Buildings & Grounds.

10 Years:

Ashlee Zahn and Martha Eaton, 911 Center;  Kandi Edwards, 4-H; Christopher Cline, Kerrie Cooper, Joseph Holtzclaw, Durad Martin, David Pickett, and Jason Tatum, Sheriff/Correctional Center; John Arnold and Dennis Green, Fire; Jackie Carlo, Human Resources; Jennifer Richardson, Juvenile Court; Kelly Thompson, Probate Court; Robert Clark, Brent Clark, and Michael Law, Public Works; Justin Brown, James Caraway Jr., Ben Dyer, Angie Lowery, Shannon Manis, Andrew Smith, and Robert Townsend, Sheriff; Shannon Chandler, Tax Assessor’s Office; and Michael Brian Dial, Sheriff.

15 Years:

Sharon Ratcliff, 911; Barbara Bramlett, Melissa Callahan, Tenille Czerneski, Vicki Fisher, and Wesley Lynch, Sheriff/Correctional Center; Harold West, Fire; Olan Patterson, Public Works; Jeffery Cochran, Recreation; Eric Burnette, Linda Gomez, Adrian Gomez, Rickey Holmes, Diane Jackson, Wallace Johnson III, Ronald Kirby, and Clay Pangle, Sheriff; and Eloise Dockery, Tax Commissioner’s Office.

20 Years:

Lynn Hawkins, Tax Commissioner’s Office; Judge Jack Partain, Superior Court; Cathy Taylor, Inspections/Enforcement; Charles “Chuck” Fetzer, Buildings & Grounds; Rosie Shiretzki and Paul Woods, Sheriff; Lewis Barefoot and Kerry Robinson, Fire; James Moore and Emmanuel Swinney, Public Works; and Jennell Hill, Clerk of Court.

25 Years:

Joey Craig and Craig Desmond, Public Works; Mary Hammontree, Elections; Tim Suits, Clerk of Court; Jimmy Thorne, Sheriff’s Office; Steven Fields and Elizabeth Sue Gibson, Sheriff/Correctional Center; and Jean Price-Garland, Engineer.

30 Years:

Gary Brown, Buildings & Grounds; Emmit Tate Jr., Sheriff/Correctional Center; Fran Rice, Sheriff; James Quarles, Sheriff/Correctional Center; Richard Rogers, Public Works; and Danny Headrick, Sheriff.

35 Years:

Teresa Kaye Smith, Magistrate, and Russell Wilson, Fire.

The commissioners also thanked the committee that did such a great job putting together the annual Employee Recognition Luncheon: Jennifer Jones, Chairperson, Shannon Chandler and Missy Williams, all with the Tax Assessor's Office; Cindy Sherrod, Information Technology; and Debbie Roper, Recreation, along with Gary Brown and the Buildings & Grounds staff.