Macon County said its farewells to David and Dawn Head at a celebration of life service on May 26 in Scaly Mountain.
The couple was riding a motorcycle on US 441 on the previous Saturday when a Jeep Commander crossed the center line into oncoming traffic and collided with a line of vehicles including their Harley Davidson.
The service was preceded by a procession headed up by the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, where David Head served as a deputy.
Mourners lined the streets for over 23 miles as a police escort drove from Franklin to Sky Valley-Scaly Mountain Volunteer Fire Department. Those in attendance included hundreds of residents from all over Macon County and county employees from every department.
“He was one of ours,” said Melissa Setzer, an administrative assistant with the Department of Public Health who saw off the procession as it left the Lakeside Plaza. “We may not have worked side by side, but we’re all a family.”
David Head was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and a deputy for the Macon County Sheriff’s Office. His friends and colleagues remembered him as a compassionate and fun-loving man with a zest for life that lit up his department.
The Rev. Oliver Rice, who spoke at the funeral, said Head was also a devout Christian who lived a life that honored God.
“I believe he loved God with all my heart,” Rice said. “The life we live here determines the life we will live after death. I’ll tell you right now, you’ll see him again.”
Dawn Head will also be remembered for a life of positive impacts on those around her. Her daughter, Sidney Sanborn, eulogized her at the service and said that she had learned about love and support all her life from watching the way her mother lived, and that her love story alongside David was a great example of the way she cared about other people.
“My mom is my hero,” Sanborn said. “You learn how to love and support from your parents from the day that you’re born. … I know that she’s watching us right now and smiling. My mom and David will never truly be gone.”
Between them, the couple is survived by four children. Macon County Sheriff Robert Holland presented Sidney and Erin Sanborn an American flag, and presented Jeslyn and J.D. Head, David’s biological children, with a flag and his duty badge.
Holland said that his strongest memory of David will be how evident his love for his children was.
“I was around David a lot and there was never a conversation where he didn’t talk about his kids,” Holland said. “He was extremely proud of them.”
While the circumstances were tragic, it was understood by all in attendance that the day shouldn’t be an exclusively sad occasion. David and Dawn had lived lives that everyone agreed were worth celebrating and remembering fondly. David Sanborn, who also spoke at the service, said the two of them had left behind a legacy for the entire community to aspire to.
“If we can be just a little bit of what we’re here to honor, we can all be better people,” he said.
A GoFundMe campaign to benefit the couple’s children’s educations is accepting donations online at bit.ly/2ZXBkPt.