Everything that Jim Middleton did “he did with all his heart,” said Matt Evans, founding and lead pastor of Dalton’s Rock Bridge Community Church.
Middleton, a businessman who served as Dalton mayor from 1988 to 2000, was one of the founding members of Rock Bridge. He passed away Tuesday at age 88.
“To understand Jim, you have to understand his passionate faith in Jesus and deep belief in the Word of God,” Evans said. “He helped start Rock Bridge because of those deep, abiding convictions. He genuinely believed that a church grounded in God’s Word and committed to Jesus’ Gospel is the hope of the world.”
At Rock Bridge, Middleton served as an elder, small group leader and greeter for many years.
“He lived and loved because he was first loved by Christ,” said Evans. “Jim was like a grandfather to me and also a friend and a partner in ministry. He was a man of conviction, character and action. His impact upon our community, the church and the lives he touched are simply tremendous.”
According to an obituary, Middleton grew up in Tunnel Hill and was a 1953 graduate of Dalton High School where he played football and baseball. He attended Georgia Tech and graduated from the University of Chattanooga with a degree in business administration.
Middleton “spent most of his working life at Southern Binders Inc., a business that provided carpet sample books, displays and binders that carpet salesmen showed prospective customers,” according to the obituary. He finished his career in the insurance and financial planning fields.
Middleton served city government through a variety of offices, culminating in his time as mayor.
Middleton’s last few years in office overlapped with Mike Babb’s first few years as chairman of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners.
“He was good to deal with,” Babb said. “I liked working with him. I think that he might have taken it easy on me because he was the experienced politician and I was new.”
Babb said Middleton played a role in helping to extend water to the unincorporated parts of the county.
“Of course, a lot of people worked together on that, the Board of Commissioners, the Board of Commissioners of the Water, Light and Sinking Fund (the governing body of Dalton Utilities) and the City Council,” Babb said. “But he was a key part of that.”
The family will receive friends Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Love Funeral Home in Dalton. A service to celebrate and honor Middleton’s life will be Monday at 11:30 a.m. at Rock Bridge Community Church’s Wink Theatre with Evans officiating. A private burial will follow at Whitfield Memorial Gardens.