Macon-Bibb fallen peace officers, firefighters honored

With the tolling of a bell and the placing of white roses Friday morning, Macon and Bibb County remembered the sacrifices of 31 men who gave their lives serving the community.

All but one of their names are etched on three granite markers in Public Safety Memorial Park on Mulberry Street.

The grief was fresh for the family of Anthony “T.J.” Freeman, a Bibb County sheriff’s deputy who died May 5 in a crash in the pursuit of a suspect — a death too recent for inscription on the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office monument.

“It was heart-moving,” Freeman’s mother, Vicki Lindsey, said after the service. “We’re one day at a time, and we’re asking God to be with us and help us through.”

Lindsey sat beside Sandie Parker, the widow of Lt. Randy Parker, the Macon-Bibb firefighter who died while on duty in February 2015.

The two shared an embrace under the misty, gray sky.

“I’ve been there, and I know the hurt they’re experiencing,” said Parker, who hugged other families at the ceremony. “You’re not alone. That’s the thing that they need to understand.”

It’s been a decade since sheriff’s Sgt. Joseph Whitehead was shot to death serving a no-knock search warrant just a few blocks away from Freeman’s fatal crash on Columbus Road in Macon’s Unionville community.

Whitehead’s mother and sister traveled from out of state to mark the anniversary.

“It means so very much,” Delores Whitehead said of the remembrance of her son’s sacrifice. “I miss his voice. I miss his love. I miss his fun things he did for his mom. He was a family man, and I just love him and miss him with all my heart, and I’ll never forget him.’

“Ten years still feels like 2006,” Lisa Whitehead said of her younger brother’s death. “I miss his jokes. I miss his phone calls. I miss talking with him.”

Barbi Parker has few memories of her father, Bibb County campus police officer Euel T. “Bubba” Smith, whose death while protecting Central High School on April 22, 1983, was being remembered in a public memorial for the first time.

“It was a great honor,” Parker said. “It was wanted for a long time. It was well-deserved.”

Smith, who also served on the Macon Police Department, is the 12th name on the monument for the now-disbanded department.

Macon-Bibb Law Enforcement Foundation Chairman Warren Selby noted the significance of the courthouse bell tolling nine times as Smith’s name was read.

“There’s a higher hand that watches over all of us, and there’s a reason that all things happen,” Selby said.

Mayor Robert Reichert thanked all those who run toward burning buildings, gunfire and bomb blasts.

“Our deepest condolences (are) extended to the families of those whose names have been read today who have made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf,” he said.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Macon-Bibb fallen peace officers, firefighters honored."