B. W. “Ben” Chitwood, age 88, a resident of Oliver Springs, passed away Saturday, July 13, at the Oneida Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Mr. Chitwood was born Feb. 27, 1925, in Oliver Springs. He continued to live in Oliver Springs until early adulthood, when he enlisted into the U.S. Navy, where he served his country during World War II.

Following his military discharge, he became a public servant and worked as a police officer in North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee. In Tennessee, he was employed at the Oak Ridge Police Department, the Roane County Sheriff’s Department, and on two separate occasions he served as the Oliver Springs police chief. While working in North Carolina, his most memorable employment was for the Biltmore Forest Police Department.

Ben was preceded in death by his parents, Harrison B. and Lillian Chitwood, and by two brothers, Harrison Benjamin Chitwood Jr. and Louis Chitwood. [Read more…]