Elementary school teacher Heidi Hammond (left) and her husband, Sean Hammond, a teacher at Hammond Creek Middle School (right), have both succumbed to Covid-19. The deaths leave their son, Marshall, age 12 (center), to be raised by grandparents. Photo credit: Daily Citizen News.

Two beloved educators from Dalton, Georgia, have succumbed to Covid-19. Heidi Hammond, a teacher at Chatsworth Elementary School, passed away in September, just 25 days after her husband, Sean Hammond, who was due to begin his first year as a teacher and football coach at Hammond Creek Middle School. Heidi passed away on Sept. 24, 2021, at the age of 44. Sean passed away on Aug. 30, 2021, at the age of 51. The deaths leave their son, Marshall, age 12, to be raised by grandparents.

Heidi was born on August 21, 1977. In a career that spanned more than 20 years, she was teaching first grade at Chatsworth Elementary at the time of her passing. Sean was born on March 3, 1970. The couple met when they were attending college at Marshall University in West Virginia. They lived in northern Georgia’s Murray County for about 20 years after their graduation.

Sean was a seasoned veteran in the classroom. Because of the low pay, he had left teaching for a period of time to work in the coal mines. However, recently he was lured back to the classroom. He was set to begin his first year at Hammond Creek Middle School. He would have taught special education mathematics and coached football.

Previously, Sean coached a youth program, and occasionally substituted on his son’s team at Hammond Middle when the regular coaches were absent. While substituting, Sean caught the attention of George Woods IV, Head Football Coach at the school. “He was able to step right in and really coach, and I was like, wow, this guy’s really good,” remembered Woods. “So I did some homework on him and found out that he’s just a really humble guy, and he probably had as much or more coaching experience as I have,” Woods continued. When the brand new middle school coaching staff was formed, Woods convinced Sean to join the team.

Dalton Public Schools spokeswoman Pat Holloway said that Sean attended the induction for new teachers prior to the beginning of the school year and the first three days of inservice before he tested positive for Covid-19. Because of his diagnosis, Holloway reported, Sean was unable to start the school year with students in the classroom. However, he had worked with the football players during the summer and, Holloway asserted, he “had already left an indelible mark on the other coaches and players.”

To learn more about these two teachers, see this article published by the Daily Citizen News.