The Alto Police Department is mourning the loss of Corporal Michael Tanksley, who is remembered as an excellent officer, dependable friend and loving father of two.
“He was just one of those people that no matter who you were, all you had to do was ask, and he’d be there,” Alto Police Chief Josh Ivey says.
Corporal Tanksley, who turned 40 just last week, had over twenty years of law enforcement experience and had been with the Alto Police Department for over 2 years preceding his death on Friday. Tanksley passed away due to COVID-19 complications after contracting the disease in the line of duty.
Tanksley was the Alto Police Department Officer of the Year in 2019, as well as held awards for speed enforcement and seatbelt and car seat protection, which he was particularly passionate about. Ivey says he enjoyed working with families to show them how to properly install car seats and share the importance of making sure it was done right.
Tanksley was the father of two, his son Wyatt and daughter Maci, whom he loved deeply. Ivey says some of his favorite days at the police department were those that Tanksley would bring Wyatt to work.
“He would come by here on his off days and bring Wyatt,” Ivey says. “And Wyatt would sit in that chair [in Ivey’s office] and he eat candy out of the jar.”
He says sending Wyatt home with his dad after they’d spent time together, full of sugar and with his pockets full of candy, always made them laugh. He says he treasures those memories and those days are one of the things he’ll miss the most.
“His family said ‘to know him was to love him,'” said Ivey. “[Over] the last couple of days, I’ve realized that. He was my employee, but he was my friend.”
Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 13, at the Whitfield Funeral Home South Chapel. Interment will follow in the Yonah Memorial Gardens with Honors by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard and Masonic Rites by Clarkesville Masonic Lodge No. 325 F & AM.
A livestream of the service will also be available on the funeral home’s Facebook page.
Corp. Michael Tanksley obituary
