Long-time Tift deputy dies - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

April 4, 2008

Tifton - The Tift County law enforcement community lost a well-known member of its ranks when Depauty Major Jack Woolard suffered a massive heart attack.

Here is the statement issued by Sheriff Gary Vowell's Office:

Major Jack Woolard, a 34 year veteran of the Tift County Sheriff's Office, died Friday morning of a heart attack.  Major Woolard, head of the Special Operations Department, is survived by his wife of 18 years Marie Woolard, a Senior Dispatcher with Post 13 of the Georgia State Patrol.

Major Woolard served 4 years in the U.S. Air Force with one combat tour in Vietnam.  Major Woolard then enrolled at Abraham Baldwin College where he was a student from 1971 to 1973.  Major Woolard joined the Sheriff's Office in 1974 and served in the uniformed patrol division his entire career.                                  

Woolard was chosen the 2006-2007 Public Safety Officer of the year by the Georgia Elk's Association.  He was the 2002 Liberty Bell Award recipient from the Tifton Judicial Circuit Bar Association and received an Honorary State Trooper certification in 1996. 

In 1987 Governor Joe Frank Harris named Major Woolard as a Lt. Colonel, Aide de Camp Governor's Staff.  Major Woolard was also awarded the American Legion's Call Of Duty Award in 1999 and has received a host of letters of appreciation from law enforcement agencies throughout the Southeast. 

Of special note is the close cooperation between Major Woolard and members of the US Marshal's Service and their Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

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