A longtime public servant was honored not only for his time in law enforcement, but for the good he did for people throughout the community as well.

The Cedartown City Commission read into their books a proclamation honoring Sgt. First Class William “Butch” Thornton of the Georgia State Patrol, who hung up his hat for the first time in nearly four decades of service earlier this month.

Surrounded by family and friends, Commissioner Sam Branch read the proclamation into the record during the April regular session. Then two of Cedartown’s public servants got the opportunity to say their peace about “Butch” Thornton.

Chief Jamie Newsome said when asked if he had remarks for the meeting, he was glad to do so and honor a longtime friend and colleague, who in 33 years on the job in law enforcement never knew a day when Thornton left him disappointed or without help.

“When he says its Easter, you hide the eggs. When he says its raining, you bring and umbrella,” Newsome said of Thornton. “When Butch Thornton said he’s got your back, you can count on it.”

Branch also added some comments about his encounters while once behind the wheel and on the wrong side of a traffic stop during his speedier days of his youth.

“I was driving my 1996 Honda Civic hatchback which I had nicknamed the black bullet… but on a Saturday morning I was heading to school for Variety Show practice and Butch pulled me over on Piedmont Highway right where the old dump is at Potash Road and Mary Road,” Branch explained. “He walked up to the car and asked ‘why are you going so fast and where are you going on a Saturday morning?’ and I said ‘Well Butch, I’ve got to go to school.’”

“‘But it’s Saturday.’” Branch said Thornton replied, and further explained he had something to do. “‘Well, just slow down.’ And he turned around and walked off back to his car.”

Branch pointed out that Thornton wasn’t trying to get him in trouble, wasn’t calling his father about it, he just wanted Branch to slow it down and get where he was going safely. Branch added another anecdote involving his older brother in a serious wreck, and Thornton had been there at the hospital and immediately asked not about the trouble that his brother was in at the time, but wanted to make sure his family was OK.

“Butch wasn’t concerned about lecturing him about his bad decision, Butch was concerned that someone’s child had gotten to the hospital, that someone’s child was being cared for,” Branch said. “My guess is if you asked people around the State of Georgia, you’d hear a lot of stories like that one. Because he took care of people.”

WATCH: Cedartown City Commission April session here

The longtime trooper closed out his 38 year career with the Georgia State Patrol, where he rose in the ranks after he started in 1985 up to the rank of Sergeant First Class. He mainly served out of Post 4 centered around Carroll and Douglas counties, racked up thousands of hours of training in a variety of law enforcement fields, and remained dutiful to the needs of local departments throughout.

Thornton’s career came to an official close as of April 1, 2023.

His family was on hand for photos after the Commission finished the reading of the proclamation and getting in a few photos of their own.