The Hall County Sheriff’s Office recently unveiled a marble memorial at its headquarters on Browns Bridge Road in honor of agency personnel who died in the line of duty.
The approximately 5 feet tall roughly carved stone bears the name of each fallen officer, his end of watch (EOW) date and the Sheriff’s Office badge.
The memorial, provided by Memorial Park Funeral Home & Cemeteries, also features the Bible verse Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.”
While the Sheriff’s Office has honored its fallen in ceremonies and observances over the decades, the memorial serves as a permanent reminder of their service and sacrifice. It was placed for families, agency personnel and the public. “If you walk through Sheriff’s Office facilities, you may see tributes to each of these public servants individually,” Sheriff Gerald Couch said. “Until now, there hasn’t been one publicly visible memorial for them all. While I pray this community never has to add another name to it, the stone stands to honor the life and service of each officer who made the ultimate sacrifice. We will never forget.”
The names of the five fallen deputies, along with their death dates, are Deputy William Jefferson Dorsey (February 26, 1920), Sheriff Ferd Bryan (May 6, 1950), Deputy James Timothy White (October 3, 2005) and Deputy Nicolas Blane Dixon (July 8, 2019).
An agency-wide and family ceremony to unveil the memorial earlier this summer was postponed on two occasions and they opted to post it virtually using their social media page. The ceremony included the presenting of the colors during the National Anthem.
Those interested can see the short video on the Hall County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. There is also more information on each fallen officer on the Officer Down Memorial Page.
