Putnam County lost a dedicated public servant Sunday afternoon as District 1 County Commissioner Gary Phillip McElhenney, 77, passed away at Landmark Hospital in Athens following a multi-week hospitalization.
McElhenney fell ill late in March and initially was hospitalized at St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital in Greensboro. He was life-flighted Easter Sunday (March 31) to St. Mary’s Health Care in Athens before being transferred early this month to Landmark.
McElhenney was born Sept. 25, 1946, in Toccoa to the late Hughlon “Mac” and Lillian Stewart McElhenney.
After graduating from Putnam County High School in 1964 he earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1969 from the University of Georgia. He also served in the National Guard, completing his time as a staff sergeant.
McElhenney began public service in 1974 as an emergency medical technician and quickly recognized Putnam County needed a full-time coroner. At the time, the county coroner was a part-time position appointed by the local sheriff and required no formal training.
However, once the Georgia Death Investigation Act was established in 1980, it set new rules, regulations, and training requirements for what became an elected position. McElhenney campaigned for coroner twice and lost narrow votes each time, in 1976 and 1980, before finally being elected late in 1984 to take over the role on Jan. 1, 1985.
He held the position uninterrupted, winning the next nine elections before retiring as Putnam County coroner on Oct. 31, 2019.
“The first two times I ran, I got beat, not bad, but what happened was that God had not yet put me through the fire. I wasn’t ready to be a coroner. He hadn’t tuned my heart. He just hadn’t tuned it yet,” McElhenney said last October, shortly after the coroner’s facility at the new Putnam County Fire Department complex was officially named for him. “That’s the reason I didn’t make it the first two times. He put me through that fire for a reason, is what I feel like anyway. The third time I went in, I had a different view than back in ‘76. So, my fulfillment and my job were just to serve.”
McElhenney maintained an active role in the Georgia Coroners Association throughout his career, serving in several key positions, including three one-year terms as secretary-treasurer between 1989 and 1997, president from 1991 to 1992, chaplain from 1995 to 2018, and treasurer from 1998 to 2018.
He also was appointed in 1999 by then-Governor Roy Barnes to the Georgia Coroners Training Commission and served with it for the remainder of his career, greatly influencing the training and licensing of all coroners statewide. Additionally, McElhenney received the A.R. King Award as Georgia Coroner of the Year for 1994 and 2007.
Always community-minded, McElhenney served as the American Red Cross chapter chair for the Middle Georgia Area and was named Citizen of the Year by the Eatonton—Putnam Chamber of Commerce in 2019.
He also was a member of the Lions Club of Eatonton, serving once as its president, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Post 6686, and a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church of Eatonton, where he served on numerous committees and remained deeply involved in the children’s ministry and choir.
McElhenney’s retirement didn’t last long. He returned to campaigning in 2020 and resumed public life as a county commissioner in January 2021.
“I really enjoy being on the commission,” McElhenney said in January. “It’s a lot of work and responsibility, but I like being able to help people sort out their problems or get things done. It’s always been important to me to see that the county is responsible to the people. That’s what it’s all about.”
Funeral services for McElhenney were held May 29 at First Baptist Church of Eatonton, with interment following at Eatonton Memorial Park.
In place of flowers, McElhenney’s family requests donations be made to Gatewood Schools Athletic Program, First Baptist Church of Eatonton, or the Eatonton Lions Club. To sign an online register book visit stanleyfuneralhome.com.