Former Tamaqua police Chief George B. Woodward passed away on Tuesday.

His family and friends remembered him as a dedicated public servant, a caring father and grandfather - and a great storyteller.

“He was a community guy. He cared about people in the community,” said his son, Lansford Police Chief Kyle Woodward.

The senior Woodward spent 32 years as a Tamaqua police officer, rising through the ranks to become a criminal investigator, and then the department’s chief in 1999.

After retirement several years later, he worked for police departments in Walker and Schuylkill townships.

Having been in the community for so long, it wasn’t uncommon for Woodward to run into people that he had arrested, his son said.

“I’ve never ever had anybody actually say anything bad about my dad - even guys that he charged and went to jail for 5 or 10 years,” Kyle said. “I never heard anything bad about him.”

He recalled how his dad would often be called to work on major cases.

“He went to Texas for extraditions, he went to the border to pick up people, he went to Las Vegas,” Kyle said. “Most people don’t think that, especially because it is a small town.”

He recalled his father working on major cases, including burglary and jewelry store thefts. He even helped bring down a multistate burglary ring in 1990, Kyle said.

“Back then they solved a big case at (the former) Jamesway. It got broken into by an East Coast crew that were breaking into places and blowing up safes,” Kyle said.

Kyle said he originally thought about being a physical therapist, but changed career paths. He received his Act 120 (Municipal Police Officers’ Basic Training), and soon began working as a part-time officer in Tamaqua, Rush Township and Coaldale.

He was hired by the Baltimore County Police Department in 1998 and spent 21 years there before returning to the Tamaqua area.

“I think I made the right decision way back when to do it,” Kyle said of following in his father’s footsteps.

Zoe Snyder, one of Woodward’s grandchildren, posted a heartfelt tribute to her grandfather.

“He was the true definition of a family man and one of the best men I’ve ever known. He was selfless, loving, sensitive, hard working, and so many other things,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “I’m forever grateful for all the time I got to spend with him. He taught me so many things. We’re all going to miss him so much. His memory will live on through all the lives he touched. I will never forget him.”

She also noted that her grandfather “was always gallivanting around town, keeping tabs on everyone and making new friends.”

Snyder said she’s hoping that those whose lives he touched will turn out for his services from 5 to 7 p.m. May 14 at the E. Franklin Griffiths Funeral Home in Tamaqua. A military salute will be held at 7 p.m.

Woodward’s daughter, Kim Woodward, said “they don’t make” people like her dad anymore.

“Each day was a gift,” she said. Her father, she said, was always a storyteller. But in recent days, he shared stories his family never heard before as they looked over photos, newspaper articles and other sentimental items.

Kim said her father loved his family, loved the outdoors and loved Tamaqua, especially its train station, Bungalow pool and Kellner’s Dam.

“He loved all the simple things,” she said.

Kim said her father often walked in the borough. His walks, she said, might take hours - because he always stopped to talk to people.

“He always had a story and he always kept talking,” she said.

Woodward could often be found sitting on a bench at the Tamaqua Train Station and watching the trains pass by - if he wasn’t talking to someone.

He recently told a story about a girl who was attempting to overdose on drugs. He asked the girl to drop the needle.

“He said, ‘Let’s take it out. Tomorrow will be another day,’” Kim said of her father saving the girl’s life. She believed he was retired at that point - and wondered if any others would have done the same thing, or would have passed the girl by.

She remembered the lessons he taught her when she was young. When the Tamaqua Train Station sat vacant and decaying, Kim, her dad and a friend visited every day for two years to help clean it up.

“He was really proud of that. He would often tell people about it and say, ‘Do you know what my daughter did?’” and tell them how she helped, she said.

He also helped her start a silk (flag) squad at the Tamaqua Area High School when she was a student. She remembered that he directed her to write a letter to the school board, and when she was told she’d have to help create the squad, she and her father purchased metal pipes from the local hardware store to serve as bases for the flags, and shopped at the former Schuylkill Mall to buy sweaters to serve as uniforms.

Kim said she visited Kellner’s Dam in Tamaqua on Wednesday. It was one of her father’s favorite places.

She spoke out loud, asking her dad to signal if he was there.

After she asked, metal clanged against a flagpole 10 times. And as she was leaving, she asked again: “Dad, if that was really you, please give me a sign.”

“It started dinging again,” she said, saying that her father will always be with her, his family and friends, and the community.

Former State Rep. Jerry Knowles said he had nothing but good and funny stories about Woodward. The tales go back to when Knowles served as a Tamaqua police officer.

“I worked with Woodie all the time. I was with the department for seven years, and he was hired about six months before I was,” Knowles said. “He was just a great guy. A funny guy. And what can you say about somebody who dedicated their entire life to public service, working as a policeman in the borough of Tamaqua? That tells you the whole story about the kind of guy he was.”