ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, July 10, 1996               TAG: 9607100038
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: PEARISBURG
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER 

ADVOCATE FOR THE 'IN-BETWEEN PEOPLE' DIES IN GILES COUNTY

George P. Hedrick II, the former Giles County Board of Supervisors' chairman who died Sunday, was a soft-spoken man who served one term as a public official during turbulent times.

Elected to an at-large seat in 1991, Hedrick saw himself as an advocate for "in-between people," Giles County citizens that he said owned homes on small lots and worked at Virginia Tech or the Hoechst-Celanese Corp.'s Celco plant.

County road projects were a particular concern to Hedrick, reflecting his concern for basic issues that had a impact on everyday life. He once said one of his best qualifications for office was that he could "relate to people."

Hedrick saw himself as a public servant instead of a politician. "Nobody [that] goes on a board makes it hard left or right," he said when he ran in 1991. "Like a cat scratching on a grindstone, it's a slow process."

A native and lifelong Giles resident, Hedrick, 59, was a Wilburn Valley beef cattle farmer and a U.S. Army veteran. He died at Giles Memorial Hospital after battling cancer for some time.

Controversial issues seemed to infest the Board of Supervisors during Hedrick's tenure, which ended with his defeat for re-election in November, along with two other incumbents. Solid waste, public water service, plans for new power lines and an interstate highway, annexation of county land by Pearisburg, concerns about public debt and an on-going public dispute with county Treasurer Rick Cook kept members of the county board on the hot seat.

Hedrick was elected vice chairman of the county board in 1993 and 1994. He served as its chairman during his last year in office.

Previously a member of the Giles County Planning Commission, Hedrick also served on the boards of New River Community Action, the Giles Farm Bureau Co-op and New River Management Service Inc.

He was also a member of the Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, where a funeral service will be conducted at 2 p.m. today. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Hedrick is survived by his wife, Sally L. Hedrick. The family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the Giles Rescue Squad or to the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Box 3828, DUMC, Durham, N.C. 27710.

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