On the day Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Ronnie Cobb died, construction crews worked on the soon-to-open Costco Warehouse Club and the mayor met with company officials.
That night, visitors and residents flocked to restaurants on Battlefield Parkway on their way to a concert in Ringgold, Ga.
Hours before his death, Cobb spoke at a Catoosa County Commission meeting, downplaying his role in landing the warehouse club and highlighting the teamwork among local governments.
The growth, opportunities for residents and teamwork among leaders underscore many of the things that brought Cobb the most satisfaction, friends say.
On Tuesday, Cobb, 64, was pronounced dead from a heart attack at Hutcheson Medical Center. Mayor Pro-tem Louis Hamm will act as interim mayor until the city holds a special election. The date for the election will be determined next week, Hamm said.
On Wednesday, Hamm and others remembered the mayor's contributions to the city.
"He really worked hard," said Councilman Johnny "Red" Smith, who had been friends with Cobb since they were children. "He went to every doggone meeting that there was."
Smith credited Cobb, who was on Fort Oglethorpe's City Council from 1996 to 2000 and from 2002 to 2004 before becoming mayor in 2008, with helping lay the groundwork for growth in the city. Cobb was instrumental in running sewer lines around the city to allow growth, expanding the city's boundaries and most recently creating a city fire department.
"He was willing to make the county better and make Fort Oglethorpe better," said Catoosa County Commission Chairman Keith Greene. "He will definitely leave a hole in the county."
Cobb had complained of numbness in his left foot over the last few weeks. He was hospitalized Aug. 3 to have a stent put in his leg - his ninth stent - when doctors found a 90 percent blockage in an artery.
In January, he drove himself to the hospital with chest pains that turned out to be a heart attack. The attack came a day after negotiations with Costco hit a snag and Cobb joked at the time that stress must have caused it.
Since January, Cobb said he had been tired frequently, often taking naps in the afternoons after spending mornings at City Hall or the Costco site.
He addressed the Catoosa County Commission on Tuesday night to dispute commissioner's comments that he was trying to seek all the credit for the Costco project by having a road around the retailer named after him.
"This project is not a one person thing never has been never will be," a frustrated Cobb told the commission, two hours before his death. "It's bigger than all of us."
Jeremy Jones, a former opponent of Cobb for a City Council seat, was at the meeting and said Cobb's message showed the late mayor's humble personality.
"He was trying to shine the spotlight on everybody else," Jones said.
SERVICESFuneral services for Ronnie Cobb will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at Fairview Baptist Church in Rossville. Pastor Jim Bennett, Commissioner Ken Marks and state Sen. Jeff Mullis will officiate. Burial will follow in Tennessee-Georgia Memorial Park.
Jones remembered running for City Council against Cobb as a 20-year-old. While others didn't see him as a serious candidate, Jones remembered Cobb's kind words and appreciation for a young person getting involved in politics.
"He was the only one that gave me the respect as a candidate," Jones said.
Other officials who worked with Cobb called his death a "tragedy for Northwest Georgia."
State Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, issued a statement Wednesday, calling Cobb a "dear friend" and the "tip of the spear in recruiting Costco to move to Catoosa County."
"He was an inspiration to many, always positive, and very committed to the city of Fort Oglethorpe and Catoosa County," wrote Mullis.