Longtime local businessman, elected official honored Friday
“When he was younger and drove around in that red Corvette, who would have thought this is where Scotty would have ended up?”
A poignant question from Britt Madden Jr., who remembered fondly the long friendship he had with County Commissioner Scotty Tillery during a eulogy on Friday during his funeral service.
Who indeed would have thought that County Commissioner Scotty Tillery would have ended up in his position: a man devoted family, faith, community and helping others improve their lives in Polk County. He was laid to rest surrounded by all those he loved at Cedartown First United Methodist Church on Friday afternoon.
The service celebrated a “life well lived” and one that included opportunities to shape the life of the community he diligently served in his role as a Cedartown City Commissioner and was in his third term as a County Commissioner.
His sons Russell and Clayton Tillery shared remembrances of their father’s love of Polk County and the small town where he grew up, and also the family he leaves behind. From evenings spent on the carport on the phone with many friends and officials throughout the community to spontaneous trips out to eat at area restaurants like Linda Marie’s, they shared stories of Scotty Tillery at home with his family, and his role as an example to follow into adulthood.
Superior Court Chief Judge Mark Murphy shared with packed church the various ways that Tillery helped the community, and his dedication to preserving the past while also helping expand for the future in the work that he was undertaking for a future courthouse expansion project.
Polk County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jonathan Blackmon – who said he always joked with Tillery that whoever died first that the other would have to speak at their funeral – lamented that he was there to eulogize a friend.
But in equal measures, the stories Blackmon, Murphy, Madden and Tillery’s sons shared brought smiles to a crowd who mourned the loss too soon of a community servant and friend for asking “dumb plumber questions” while at the same time providing moments of wisdom.
Tillery, a member of multiple local clubs and a businessman, he also served on the Cedartown City Commission from 2009 to 2013. His dedication to public service as a serving commissioner included his time as Chair of the Finance Committee. He also served on the Public Works and Ordinance Committees, the Polk County Board of Health, and the ACCG GEBCorp Board of Directors.
A full obituary is available here.
