Funeral services are scheduled Saturday for the former longtime mayor of Clarkesville, Sam Tolbert. He died Wednesday morning, Feb. 5, following a battle with cancer.
Tolbert’s funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on Feb. 8 at Hillside Memorial Chapel in Clarkesville. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7.
Tolbert was a native of Habersham County and a U.S. Army veteran. He served on the Clarkesville City Council for six years (1986-91) and was elected mayor in a special election in 1991. He held that position until 2005 when he chose not to seek re-election.
In addition to his many years of public service, Sam Tolbert operated the funeral home where he will be memorialized. He and his wife Martha established Hillside Memorial Chapel in Clarkesville in 1977.
As news of his death spread, people in the community who knew him offered their condolences and tributes online.
“He was a great man and knew how to take care of families that came through Hillside. He will be missed,” Cathy Rudeseal commented on Now Habersham’s Facebook page. Another reader, Chris Canup said, “When my father passed away Sam and Brent were the only funeral home that would work with us. He was a great man and will be missed.”
Sam served as President of the Independent Funeral Directors of Georgia in 2009 and was a member of the Past Presidents Club. He was a Mason and Gideon and member of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Clarkesville.
Tolbert is survived by his wife, two children, and three grandsons.
Sam Tolbert was 72 years old.
