On Wednesday, August 20, Covington celebrated what would have been the 100th birthday of Dr. William L. “Bill” Dobbs, Covington’s longest-serving Mayor and Optometrist. The day’s festivities were held at the Newton County Senior Center with a special lunch of his favorite menu: fried chicken, collard greens, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread. The large crowd of around 200 people also enjoyed cake and ice cream as well as RC Colas and Moon Pies. Dr. Dobbs had a profound impact on Covington and Newton County, and his actions are still helping people today.
Born in Blount County (Sand Mountain) Alabama on August 20th, 1925, Dr. Dobbs was 7 years old when his family moved to Newton County. He attended Palmer Stone Elementary School and Covington High School. He then graduated from Oxford College of Emory University and went on to Auburn University to study Veterinary Medicine. While at Auburn, World War II had begun, so he joined the US Army. He was stationed at Fort Benning where he was taught to be a Special Weapons Instructor before being sent to a Pacific Coast base.
While at Fort Benning, he would regularly come back to Covington for the weekends. Many people in Covington were not aware he was in the service because he deliberately chose not to wear his uniform so that no one would ask him what he did in the Army since the weapons he was learning to give instruction on were classified as secret. The “secret” weapons were M18 (57mm) and M20 (75mm) Recoilless Rifles with 5-pound and 22-pound shells, respectively.
After the War, Dr. Dobbs attended the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis. While at school in Memphis, he met and married Virginia, “Jenny.” The two of them did everything together and always supported each other. He graduated with honors in 1950 and came back to Covington to practice and did so for almost 65 years until a week before he died on May 4th of 2014. Dr. Dobbs was one of the longest practicing Optometrists in the United States.
Dr. Dobbs always sought to increase the quality of life for people and families. His Optometric practice in Covington did just that. When he first started, the nearest Doctors of Optometry were located in Decatur, Athens, Macon, and Augusta. Whether Dr. Dobbs was providing a child or adult with eye exams and glasses at no cost or allowing an individual to pay their bill at a dollar per week or sometimes a dollar per month with no interest ever, he wanted to make sure that people could see. Often, Dr. Dobbs had calls at all hours to meet a person and remove various types of debris from their eye or eyes. He did not charge people for that as he just wanted to make it better.
Dr. Dobbs was heavily involved in community service. He was a founding member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, an active member of the Georgia Optometric Association, and served on the Georgia Board of Examiners in Optometry for many years. He was a 65-year-plus member of Golden Fleece #6 Masonic Lodge, a York Rite member, a Knight Templar, and a Shriner. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the American Legion, the Covington Elks Lodge, and he was named a lifetime member of the Lions Club. A highlight and honor of his was serving on the Board of Directors for the Bank of Covington from 1981 to 1995. In later years, he served as Commissioner for the Covington Housing Authority. Among his lifelong achievements was being named a recipient of the Robert Arnold Award.
Dr. Dobbs loved the City of Covington, and in 1964, he was appointed to fill an unfinished term on the Covington City Council. He enjoyed serving on the Council, and he did so for 3 two-year terms before he decided to run for Mayor. He became Mayor of Covington in 1970 and served for 26 years. The first 11 terms were for two years each, and his last term was for four years. At the end of that last term, he decided to retire from the office. This was and still is the longest tenure for a Covington Mayor.
Under his leadership, the City of Covington expanded the Electric, Gas, and Sanitation Departments as well as the Water and Sewer Authority. The City established Covington Cable, making Covington a “Full-Service Community.” The Fire Department increased from 3 paid firemen to 28 fulltime firemen. The Police Department went from 12 officers to over 50 officers and became the first police department in the State of Georgia to become Internationally Accredited. A Tree Preservation Board was formed to emphasize and preserve Covington’s trees. Covington established “Sister Cities” in countries like Ireland and developed good relationships with the countries of international companies that located here. Some of the large industries that chose Covington during his tenure were Meade Packaging (1973), Oldcastle Glass (1978), Astro Plastics (1984), Clairon Metals Corporation (1989), General Mills (1987), and Bridgestone Golf (1995). They still continue to support the local community with products, jobs, and sponsorships.
Dr. Dobbs loved fire trucks. During his time as Mayor, the fire trucks purchased were mostly white with a red stripe. This unique color combination caused Covington’s Fire Department to stand out from other communities and look cleaner even when dusty. The white fire trucks matched other City work trucks, and in a time when streetlights and vehicle lights were not what they are today, the white paint offered more visibility and light reflection for safety, especially at night.
While Dr. Dobbs was Mayor, much filming took place in Covington. In 1978 The Dukes of Hazzard utilized Covington and the surrounding areas for early episodes. In 1986, the movie, Friday 13th, Part 6, was shot, and in 1991, My Cousin Vinny was filmed. Among the more exciting films was The Cannonball Run in 1980. Dr. Dobbs had the City of Covington temporarily remove power lines around the Square (Church Street and Pace Street) before filming the iconic plane landing scene. From 1988 to 1994, the popular series, In the Heat of The Night, called Covington home. Dr. Dobbs developed a strong friendship with actor Carroll O’Connor and provided many pairs of glasses for him as well as for other cast members and crew.
As Mayor, Dr. Dobbs saw the importance of having a good working relationship between the City of Covington and Newton County leadership. Dr. Dobbs made every effort to work closely with each County Chairman and the Commissioners. As an example, Dr. Dobbs and Chairman Roy Varner joined forces to plan and fund the reservoir project that provides clean drinking water for much of Newton County. The two were able to widen Washington Street and helped find funding for a more modern Chamber of Commerce. The level of partnership between Covington and Newton County was extremely strong throughout the Mayoral tenure of Dr. Dobbs. Many endeavors would not have been possible without full cooperation of City and County. Dr. Dobbs understood that operating as a team for certain projects only helped to better the community for all.
Dr. Dobbs was instrumental in expanding the Recreation Authority facilities and was proud to have the softball fields at Turner Lake named in his honor. While he did not play a musical instrument, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Community Band, which was created at his suggestion. Dr. Dobbs approached his friend, Mr. T.K. Adams, to lead a community band, again and again until Mr. Adams finally relented after more than 3 years. The Community Band is part of the Newton County Arts Association which was also special to him. The Arts Association facility on Washington Street is named in his honor, The Dr. William L. Dobbs Center for Performing Arts.
In September of 2014, Mayor Ronnie Johnston and the City Council named Pace Street the “Dobbs Memorial Parkway” in honor of Dr. Dobbs’ 26 years as Covington’s Mayor and his total of 32 years of service as an elected City Official.
Surrounding oneself with smart people is very beneficial. Dr. Dobbs did that with close friends like Rob Fowler, Billy Smith, Jack Morgan, Donald Ballard, and Frank Turner, Sr., who was the City Manager for most of Dr. Dobbs’ years as Mayor. Often mistakenly combined, the Denny Dobbs family is not related to the Dr. Dobbs family, but have long been friends. Additionally, Dr. Dobbs had patients, who were also close friends like Representative Tyrone Brooks, Bishop Cornelius Henderson, and Ambassador Andrew Young, who were instrumental in helping him navigate sensitive social issues.
Dr. Dobbs knew that a city with good infrastructure, utilities, police, and fire services would help to attract new industries and that would in turn generate new and better jobs. He also understood that a distinctive Arts Association and recreation program would place Covington higher on the quality-of-life ladder than other communities of similar size.
When Dr. Dobbs was not serving his community directly or caring for his patients, he enjoyed reading the “Funnies” or comics in the newspaper. He liked RC Colas and Moon Pies, peanuts, and peaches. He and Jenny loved sitting on the Covington Square and eating ice cream together.
Dr. and Mrs. Dobbs liked traveling. Not only did they travel the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, they traveled to Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, the United Kingdom, western Europe, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Egypt, India, China, and Japan. Dr. Dobbs took his wife and their son, Bill, to all 159 Georgia counties, so that Bill could photograph every courthouse for a mammoth scrapbook project for 8th grade Georgia History. Dr. Dobbs was always ready for a drive.
Notably, Dr. Dobbs wore a coat and tie, and he collected several thousand ties. During the Christmas season, he always wore Christmas ties, but he was also famously known for giving Christmas ties to others. He had a good sense of humor, an extremely optimistic outlook on life, and the most positive attitude. One will never meet a more hardworking, honest, loyal, generous, or caring individual. He would do anything to help his fellow man.
Dr. Dobbs had a knack for placing individuals in positions that they could perform well in, flourish, become leaders, and make a positive difference. He often saw things in people that they did not see in themselves. Not only did Dr. Dobbs help people see with their eyes, he helped people see their own potential, and he encouraged them to achieve it fully. He stood back and quietly supported them. He was never concerned about taking credit, just for a good job to be done.
One such example is Ms. Josephine Brown, now a longtime friend of the Dobbs family. Dr. Dobbs saw a need for seniors to have a place to gather and have fellowship. Working with State Senator Donald Ballard to secure government funds, a Senior Center was set to be established in Covington. Dr. Dobbs felt Ms. Josephine Brown was the right person to start this Senior Center and asked her to take on this role. Beginning in 1972, Ms. Josephine Brown remained the Director for over 45 years, and the Josephine B. Brown Senior Center, named in her honor, has won multiple awards for innovation and is a model center for Georgia and surrounding states. As a leader, Ms. Brown passed the baton upon retirement to Mrs. Freda Reed who continues to run the Senior Center with excellence and high standards, earning more awards.
The Dobbs family would like to extend their deepest appreciation to Mrs. Reed and the Senior Center staff and volunteers who helped make the 100th Birthday Celebration of Dr. William L. “Bill” Dobbs a tremendous success. Dr. Dobbs loved the Senior Center and would be proud of how it still thrives.
Dr. Dobbs sought to give people opportunities - opportunities for better vision and opportunities for a better quality of life.
