COVINGTON, Ga. — Services are set for Saturday, Sept. 5, for former Covington Police Chief Bob Moody, who died Friday, Aug. 28, at age 73.

"It is with a heavy heart that we report that former Covington Police Chief Bob Moody passed away (Friday)," the Covington Police Department reported on its Facebook page.

Moody, a Covington resident, worked for more than 20 years with Covington Police. He was promoted to chief and, in 1985, led Covington to become only the 10th department in the U.S. and the first in Georgia to become Internationally Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

He moved on to serve as chief of the Marietta Police Department from 1996 to 2006.

The Covington Police Department on its Facebook page noted Moody also served as president of The Georgia Chiefs Association and as president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. 

"Thank you Chief Moody for your leadership and service to the citizens of our community. Please keep Sue and the rest of Chief Moody’s family in your prayers during this difficult time."

He also served at the state level as a member of the state Board of Public Safety, according to an obituary from Caldwell & Cowan Funeral Home, which is in charge of funeral arrangements.

Covington Police Capt. Ken Malcom said Moody "was very influential in my adult life and hired me 34 years ago."  

"Chief Moody cared about his staff and he pushed us all to be the best that we could be," Malcom said on his Facebook page. "Education was very important to Bob Moody. He worked hard to get many of us into The FBI National Academy and all of us in college."

Sheriff Ezell Brown said Moody "was an outstanding chief who served his community well."

"I thank Chief Moody for his service and dedication to the citizens of Newton County," Brown said.

Dunwoody Police Chief Billy Grogan served as deputy chief for Moody when he was Marietta's chief. 

Grogan, who was Dunwoody's inaugural police chief upon the city's incorporation in 2008, said Moody "opened my eyes up to future opportunities I had never even dreamed about."

"I already had the 'work hard' mindset, and he encouraged me to dream big," Grogan wrote in his "Top Cop Leadership" blog in 2019..

A Gathering of Friends is set for Saturday, Sept. 5, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Klondike Farm, 2588 Klondike Road SW, in Conyers. A Celebration of Life will be held at 3 p.m. with Pastor Tony Howeth officiating, the obituary stated.

He is survived by his wife, Sue M. Moody; daughter and son-in-law, Robin and Donnie Mitchell; son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Tami Moody, all of Covington; grandchildren, Brittany Moody and Cody Moody; brothers and sister-in-law, Johnny and Eva Moody of Suwanee, and Dwight L. Moody of Covington.