THOMASVILLE — A former Thomasville Police Department chief was looking — four decades ago — for someone who had been around weapons and would take orders.

He found Nate Tyler, who retired Sunday from Thomasville city government after 20 years with TPD and 21 years in the city solid waste operation.

On Tuesday, about 200 of Tyler’s co-workers gathered for grilled sausages, hot dogs and hamburgers at the city operations building on Smith Avenue in observance of the retirement.

Tyler was discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps and returned home to Thomas County in the late 1970s. He got a job with the Thomas County School System assisting physical education instructors and a football coach.

About six months later, John Perry, a former police chief, “gave a little Pavo farm boy a chance,” Tyler said.

He knew there would be no problem with a background check. 

“There was no trouble to get into in Pavo,” Tyler said.

Tyler recalled he was hired on Rose Show Day 1978. He became a patrol officer and moved through the ranks to major.

Twenty years later — Rose Show day in 1998 — Tyler learned about an opening in solid waste and requested an internal transfer. He reported directly to the city manager.

Perry, his former boss, also reported directly to the city manager. As head of solid waste, Tyler found himself on the same level as Perry at direct report meetings.

“It was a promotion for me, but a change,” Tyler said about the solid waste transfer. “Boy, I hit the jackpot when I got to the City of Thomasville.” 

The city, he said, insisted on good training and schooling in the jobs he performed. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

At a recent city council meeting, some of Tyler’s fellow employees said they found it difficult to put into words what he has meant to the city.

He was described as “extraordinarily smart” with a can-do attitude and never shirked responsibility.

“A gentle giant but a force to be reckoned with” was another description.

Tyler, who was surprised by the accolades from employee after employee, described the honors as a conspiracy.

As a TPD officer, Tyler initiated the agency’s police bike team and community-oriented policing policy.

The city, he said, allowed him to act on ideas, such a debris pickup in other communities and other revenue-producing actions implemented while he headed solid waste. Tyler said he was asked for his opinion, and people listened.

“It was 300 people trying to figure out the best you can be,” Tyler, 64, said, in reference to Team Thomasville. “It became very exciting.”

Tyler will continue to perform some solid waste work on a contract basis for 90 days.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820