Coach) William (Bill) Ensley, Sr

(Coach) William (Bill) Ensley, Sr. of Dahlonega, passed away peacefully on February 8, 2020. Bill was born on March 28, 1935, to Eugene and Ramie Childers Ensley in Chatsworth, GA.

Bill Ensley attended Murray County High School and earned a basketball scholarship to the University of Georgia, where he played for four years and set rebounding records. Bill Ensley became Coach Ensley at Jefferson High School and Hart County High School. While at Hart County High School, he won three state championships, being the only coach in GA history to win both a girls’ and boys’ state championship on the same night in 1963. In 1971, Coach Ensley restarted the basketball program at North GA College in Dahlonega, GA, where he never had a losing season. He served as Director of Athletics for twenty-four years, serving as head basketball coach for eighteen years.  Coach Ensley led the Saints to the district playoffs eleven times, capturing district titles in 1983 and 1984. Coach Ensley was named Atlanta Tip-Off Club Coach of the Year in 1976. In 1994, Coach Ensley was named to the NAIA Hall of Fame and was the recipient of the NAIA’s Athletic Administrator of the Year in 1991.

Bill Ensley is survived by his wife of sixty-four years, Jeanette Gregory Ensley, brothers and sister-in-law, Arvil and BarbaraEnsley of Roopville, GA and Gary Ensley of Kansas City, KS, daughters and son-in-law, Cary Moore of Murrayville and Leanne Ensley Condon and Tony Condon of Arlington, WA, grandchildren, Erika and Wykeman Moore, and Lauren Turner and Cara Condon, great-grandchildren, Mackenzie Langley and Gabriel Gonzalez.

Funeral Services will be held Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 1:00 at Dahlonega Funeral Home Chapel in Dahlonega, GA.  Family will receive friends on Friday, February 14, 2020 from 4:00-8:00 at Dahlonega Funeral Home.

Arrangements by the professional staff of Dahlonega Funeral Home and Cremation Services. 20 Gibson Road Dahlonega, GA 30533