Bill Weaver
William B. “Bill” Weaver, who served as a member of the city of Dalton’s Public Safety Commission for 16 years and an educator with the Dalton Public Schools decades before that, passed away on Friday. He was 87 years old.
Mr. Weaver’s life was characterized by public service. Born in Middleton, Ohio, Mr. Weaver moved to the south in 1957 when he began a career in education at the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. He came to Dalton in 1963 to take a teaching and counseling job at Dalton High School and he lived here for the rest of his life. He kept teaching at Dalton High School until 1978, when he became the director of Human Resources and Student Services for the school system. He earned promotion in the school system several times, eventually retiring in 2001 as deputy superintendent of schools.
Mr. Weaver was appointed to the city of Dalton’s Public Safety Commission in 2007, becoming the chairman in 2009. He stepped down from that role in 2021, but remained on the commission. Mr. Weaver attended the commission’s meeting last Tuesday, just days before his passing.
“He was engaged, he was always engaged in what he did,” said Truman Whitfield, chairman of the Public Safety Commission, who worked with Mr. Weaver both on the commission and also during his career as a police officer. “You could always depend on him to give you an insightful opinion that was logical and well thought out. He was thorough in everything that he did. He was just a fine gentleman.”
“He was well respected by everybody both in the private sector and the government sector. He was the consummate professional,” said Dalton Police Chief Cliff Cason. “He knew a little bit about everything, and he was really good at dealing with the human aspects of what we deal with. He was just someone you could run ideas by who would give you feedback and often times point you in the right direction.”
“If I had to sum up Mr. Weaver in one word, it would be ‘professional,’” said Dalton Fire Chief Todd Pangle. “He had very high expectations for our departments, for the service provided to the city and the citizens of the city. He stated what his expectations were but he stood out of the way and let you do your job. He never let me forget his expectations, but he let me do it my way and for that I was very appreciative.”
“He was definitely a man of service, a very service-minded man,” Chief Pangle continued.
In addition to his service with the Public Safety Commission, Mr. Weaver served on a number of civic and community boards, including the Dalton-Whitfield-Murray Retired Educators Association, Past President; Georgia Retired Educators Association, District XVI Director; O.N. Jonas Arts Foundation, Treasurer, Board of Directors; Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes, Cherokee Estate Board of Trustees; Dalton-Whitfield Community Foundation, Board of Directors; Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia, Board of Directors; Dalton Rotary Club, Past President, 1998-99 Dalton Rotarian of the Year. Past civic involvement includes Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Board of Directors, (Founding Director); Cheerhaven School, a school for special needs children and adults, Past President of Board of Directors; Dalton Little Theatre, Board of Directors; Elbert J. Shaw, Jr. Regional Youth Detention Center, Citizens Advisory Committee, Division of Nursing, Dalton College, Advisory Committee; Junior Achievement, Board of Directors; Leadership Dalton, 1990 graduate; Northwest Georgia Healthcare Partnership, Workplace Committee; Looper Speech and Hearing Clinic, Former Board of Directors Chairman; Northwest Georgia Mental Health Center, Advisory Committee; United Way of Northwest Georgia, Board of Directors; Voluntary Action Committee, President; Whitfield County Cancer Society, Board of Directors; Whitfield County Heart Association Board of Directors, 1995 Volunteer of the Year and 1987 Heart of the Year; Whitfield County Mental Health Association, Past President; Target Tomorrow Committee, Dalton/Whitfield Chamber of Commerce; Highland-Rivers Community Services Board, Past Chairman. Mr. Weaver was also actively involved at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church where he served on the Vestry and served as a lay eucharistic minister.
A joint work session originally scheduled for Monday between the Public Safety Commission and the Mayor and Council was postponed out of respect for Mr. Weaver’s passing and will be rescheduled at a later date. Monday’s Mayor and Council meeting at 6 p.m. will take place as originally scheduled.