ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Family, friends and the law enforcement community paid tribute Thursday to those who died in the line of duty in Clay County with a special ceremony held in Orange Park.
Twelve pictures represented the 12 law enforcement officers who died int he line of duty in Clay County between 1
They are:
- Sheriff Josephus A. Peeler
- Sheriff Charles M. Wilson
- Sheriff Theodore S. Cherry
- Sgt. Richard Watkins
- Auxiliary Deputy Arthur Caton
- Deputy Wilson Walker
- Sgt. Eddie Hayes
- Detective David A. White
- Deputy Ben Zirbel
- Sgt. Eric Twisdale
- Deputy Clint Seagle
- Chief Derek Asdot
Their service and sacrifice were remembered during the memorial ceremony in Orange Park.
“There are no words that can assuage their emptiness,” Sheriff Michelle Cook said of the grieving families. “What I want them to know is that they will always be a part of our family, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office family. They are not going through this alone. They have an agency and really a community, the Clay County community, that loves them, appreciates them and respects them.”
Zirbel died in 2018 from injuries from a motorcycle crash while responding to a call. Deputy Donald Sutherland was his supervisor.
“We all had breakfast that morning like any other normal day. Ben was on the way home. There was a call for service that went out and Ben being the deputy that he was, he was going to that call. It was a lady screaming for help, and gentlemen pulled out in front of him,” Sutherland said.
Sutherland remembers Zirbel as a jokester and the life of the party and said a day like this is difficult.
“It is a very strong bond. It is a strong bond. You build a family,” Sutherland said. “To go through this and to see what the family goes through, not only the family but the squad -- the guys also deal with it. We still talk about it, and there are certain places that we will not go on certain days because that’s where we were with Ben.”
From salutes to special tributes, Cook said these 12 men’s legacies are not in vain.
“Each of these individuals that we lost, we keep their pictures up at our station. For me, personally, it is every day a recommitment and a reminder that no matter how bad my day might be going, I have to continue to push through,” Cook said. “Our agency has to continue pushing through. If not, we would be dismissing their memory.”
The quilt ministry of Middleburg First Baptist Church made quilts this year to honor the law enforcement officers and gave them to their families.
Seagle died in 2021 after complications from COVID-19.
His widow, Donna, holds on to memories of his time in the Navy and their love for camping.
“He was larger than life. He was a big teddy bear. You would not think he would be in law enforcement. But he was very caring. Very much a family man,” Seagle said. “He never left a room without telling me that he loved me and giving me a kiss goodbye or a kiss when he came home.”