RN-T.com – Former Senator Nathan Dean laid to rest today in Rockmart

ROCKMART — The Georgia state flag was unfurled and carefully smoothed out across the coffin of former state senator Nathan Dean on Tuesday afternoon, as former governors Joe Frank Harris, Roy Barnes and Sonny Perdue solemnly made their way down the aisle of Rockmart’s First Baptist Church.

 

The men, along with former governor Zell Miller, were among hundreds who packed the East Elm Street church to pay their final respects to a man who, as Perdue said, “loved Rockmart and the people in it.”

Dean, 79, a lifelong resident of Rockmart and state senator for 30 years, died Saturday. Prior to his election as senator in 1974, Dean served as a member of the Rockmart City Council for four years and was then elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served for 12 years.

 

Dean’s pastor, the Rev. John Hooper, told those in attendance Tuesday that Dean was a shining example of what God could do with a boy who was born and raised in Rockmart’s Goodyear Village.

 

“He was my friend. I loved him and I am going to miss him. This community has lost a great man that made a big difference in our lives.” Hooper said. “But we must remember that this is not the end; it’s just the beginning for Brother Nathan.”

via RN-T.com – Former Senator Nathan Dean laid to rest today in Rockmart.