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Started in 935 at $50 per month
Heitzmann to retire after 43 years service
by JAKE JACOB
Probably the best known tax assessor on Capitol Hill, Mississippi, George Heitzmann, who first entered public service in the Hancock County Courthouse in 1935, is to tender his resignation tomorrow, Monday to the supervisors.
His action comes after 43 years and two months tenure and is being taken for personal reasons.
If accepted, the resignation will be effective December 31, a factor necessitating the supervisors appointing an interim assessor until a special election can be called. This action will probably take place within
GEORGE HEITZMANN
60 days. Heitzmann has two years left on his current term.
Heitzmann, a St. Stanislaus College honors student (Class of ?34), first applied for a vacancy then open as deputy tax collector. Sheriff Claude Monti was in office at the time. Salary was $50 per month, county assessments
Heitzmann...
million, and there are more than 92,000 parcels of land now on the assessment rolls.
Elected for three terms as tax assessor, and two terms as assessor and collector - following a change in the law in 1971, Heitzmann?s unbroken service to the county was brought about by his being rejected to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II due to the loss of an eye at 14.
During the war years however, Heitzmann served actively in the Civil Defense, wherein he is still a member, and was supervising clerk of the Selective Service Commission (SSC) for the Coastal area. To maintain his active ?Courthouse? status he worked in the evenings in tht Chancery Clerk?s office.
His work with the SSC was recognized by President of the United States Harry
S.	Truman, in a letter of commendation. Citations also came from General Lewis B. Hershey, and Colonel of Field Artillery Howard C. Bowman, commanding officer, Headquarters Mississippi Military District, Eighth Army.
Previously active in Knights of
stood at under $12 million, and there were about 2500 parcels of land on the books.
Today, Hancock being a Class 1 county, the tax assessor and collector makes $19,000 per year, the county has assessments in the neighborhood of $43 (Continued on Page 4A)
(Continued from Page 1A)
Columbus, third and fourth degree, for whom he travelled'extensively over 22 years, other citations received include those from the Older American Areawide Model Program, the International Association of Assessors and Appraisers, the State Association of Tax Commissioners, the National Association of Review Assessors -wherein he is a Certified Review Appraiser, and the Mississippi Assessors and Collectors Association.
A colonel on the staff of three Mississippi Governors, including Gov. Cliff Finch, he is married to the former Margaret Dubuisson. The couple, who reside in Bay St.Louis, have three children, Robert, Michael, and Marilyn, and eight grandchildren.
A former member of Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church Council, and a member of OLG Church ?..as long as he can remember...,? he is a former member of the OLG Usher Society and SSC Sidelines Club.
A member of the Hancock County Farm Bureau and State Cattlemen?s Association, he was active for many years in the Hancock Gun and Rod Club.