A new name will be called at Friday’s Peace Officer’s Memorial Service at the sheriff’s office.
Peace Officer’s Memorial Day is held annually across the nation on May 15. Communities gather to honor officers who died while on duty. The event is part of National Peace Officers Memorial Week.
“This annual service serves as a time of remembrance, reflection, and gratitude, bringing together law enforcement, families of the fallen, and members of the community to pay tribute to those who gave their lives in service to others,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
The newest name on the memorial is Cerro Gordo native Devin Mason. The West Columbus grad was a deputy with the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office when he died in a shootout with a felony suspect in South Carolina last July. Mason is the 13th local officer from Columbus County to die in the line of duty.
The first known line of duty death here was in1909, when Constable Jesse Simon Long was shot and killed in Fair Bluff. Other officers who died in service in the county are Bradd Cribb (1923); Hoke B. Smith (1930); Harry Long (1959) Milford Hardwick (1971); Lennue Hammond (1976); Troy Sigmon (1978); Robert “Bob” Hinson (1991); Andy Nobles (1993); Franklin Perritte (1995), Timothy “Shane” Miller (2004) and Kevin Conner (2018).
Perritte, Hammond, Miller and Conner have been honored by the Dept. of Transportation, along with Hinson. A street in his hometown of Tabor City bears Miller’s name, while bridges bear the names of Perritte, Conner and Hinson. A boating access area at Lake Waccamaw was named in honor of Sigmon, who was a Wildlife Enforcement Officer.
Friday’s service is at 11 a.m. at the sheriff’s office, 617 Washington St., Whiteville. A memorial there bears the names, agency and dates of each local officer’s service. The public is invited. Seating at the event is limited to family members.
