Former colleagues of retired Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency Chief Bill Tittle, who died Wednesday at age 80, praised his steady, professional leadership and compassion for people.
“He had a passion for emergency services, but he always, always put people first,” Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger said. “He was a true professional, always had a calm demeanor, no matter what was going on. It takes that kind of personality to be successful in helping bring normalcy back to a community in a time of crisis.”
Those times of crisis including gearing up security after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, planning and responding to floods and tornadoes and helping coordinate services for Hurricane Katrina refugees.
“This is where Bill excelled. Planning and preparing for an event and then executing, tapping resources, coordinating resources and responses,” Coppinger said.
Tittle worked at and managed Durr-Fillauer (now Fillauer Cos. Inc.) medical supply company on Amnicola Highway for 30 years before joining county government. He became chief of the county’s emergency services in 1998 and retired in 2013.
Jeanine Alday, who knew Tittle for decades and worked closely with him at the county, said Tittle had “something about him that you always trusted.” He instilled confidence in people around him and was able to bring out the best in everyone.
“He was the perfect person to be in an emergency. He was always thinking clearly. He didn’t panic. Whatever the situation was he always knew how to handle it,” she said.
Among his endearing qualities were his kindness and and consideration for others, she said.
“The people who knew him knew how thoughtful he was. If you [were sick or in stress] he would be checking on you,” Alday said. “After my husband died, he called me every single day to see how I was.”
Among his volunteer activities were stints on the Chattanooga Airport Authority and Riverbend Festival board. He received the Hometown Heroes Award from the Red Cross.
Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond said Tittle was a “true gentleman who never had a contentious thing to say. He was interested in seeing county government represented in the most positive manner. You knew he was a man of high ethics and moral principles.”
Charlie Hughes, the former executive director of the Chattanooga Community Kitchen and Tittle’s brother-in-law, said Tittle loved his work and helping people.
“We appreciated how capable he was, but you should have seen him around kids. They loved him,” Hughes said.
Tittle had lots of outside interests, he said, ranging from motorcycle riding, boating, flying planes, being in the outdoors and running a 100-acre farm in Dunlap for several years. He built two churches in a remote part of Alaska, so remote that materials had to brought to the site by boat or plane.
“He was quite a unique individual,” Hughes said.
Alday summed up what people who worked with Tittle would say: “He was the best friend anybody could ever have. I’ve lost a very dear friend.”
A celebration of life service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Luke United Methodist Church.
***
Read today’s Chattanooga Times editorial about Bill Tittle here.