A downtown Athens intersection will bear the name of longtime Georgia Bulldog football coach and UGA athletic director Vince Dooley, who passed away last October. A ceremony is set for 9:30 this morning at Broad and Lumpkin Streets, which will be known as the Vince Dooley Memorial Intersection.

From the Ga House of Representatives…

Dedicating certain portions of the state highway system; and for other purposes. WHEREAS, Mr. Vincent Joseph Dooley was born on September 4, 1932, in Mobile, Alabama, a beloved son of William and Ellen Dooley; and

WHEREAS, he served as a guardian of this nation’s freedom and liberty with the United States Marine Corps, valiantly and courageously protecting his fellow Americans; and

WHEREAS, following his distinguished service, he worked briefly as an assistant coach at Auburn University before being named head coach of the University of Georgia football team, where he would establish a decades long record that would serve as a standard for excellence in college athletics, including in his service as athletic director; and

WHEREAS, among his professional accomplishments and accolades are his membership in the College Football Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame; his record as the winningest coach in UGA history with 201 victories, six SEC titles, and the 1980 National Championship; and his status as a recipient of the 2016 Wooden Citizenship Cup; and

WHEREAS, while Mr. Dooley’s professional accomplishments and accolades are extensive, the same can be said about his humanitarian nature, his love for gardening and flowers, and his reputation as a world renowned horticulturist; and

WHEREAS, it is abundantly fitting and proper that this remarkable and distinguished Georgian be appropriately recognized by dedicating an intersection in his memory.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AND ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA, that the intersection in Clarke County, at US-78 and Lumpkin Street, is dedicated as the Vince Dooley Memorial Intersection.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Department of Transportation is authorized and directed to erect and maintain appropriate signs dedicating the road facility named in this Resolution.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to make appropriate copies of this Resolution available for distribution to the Department of Transportation and to the family of Vince Joseph Dooley

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