HAMLET — Much was said Tuesday about the love had by the late Sheriff James E. Clemmons Jr.: love for his family; love for his friends; love for those under his command; and his love for the community.
“Clem didn’t care about your economical status … he didn’t care about your color, he didn’t care about who you was, all he cared about was love,” said the Rev. Orrick McDougald during a memorial service held for Clemmons in a packed Cole Auditorium, with deputies from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, many sheriffs and other law enforcement officials from across the state, brothers from his Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and masonic lodge, and members of the community he served in attendance.
Clemmons’ casket was draped with a North Carolina flag in front of the stage, which was lined with flower arrangements and two large portraits — including one in uniform — of the much-respected lawman.
“Sheriff Clemmons, he loved us. Sheriff Clemmons, he led us,” said Pastor Mike Childers, who is also a deputy. “Now, Sheriff Clemmons has left us, but only in the flesh. His spirit will be with us always.”
Several condolences received by the family were read aloud, including a letter from N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein, in addition to a resolution from Clemmons’ alma mater, Livingstone College.
Chief Deputy Mark Gulledge recalled when he was first assigned to Clemmons’ shift as a road deputy in 1999.
“I quickly learned he cared more about his people than he did himself,” Gulledge said.
Clemmons would be sitting down the road in his car — known as the Heat of the Night — while the rest of the shift had breakfast at Bojangles, Gulledge remembered, wondering why he wouldn’t join them.
“Later, I realized it was a lesson: it was a time for us to have fellowship,” Gulledge said. “He was there to answer that call, let us eat uninterrupted. But if the Heat of the Night pulled into Bojangles in the morning, you knew it wasn’t good. He wasn’t there for a sandwich.”
Gulledge said Clemmons instilled in his deputies to put God first, family second, job third and everything else after.
“He always encouraged the men and women of the sheriff’s office to approach people with respect,” Gulldge added. “He served as a great mentor to myself and others … he was listening ear for everyone, now matter what the situation.”
Gulledge continued, saying that Clemmons’ goal was to “bring peace in all situations,” which was evidenced last year when he approached and tried to have a dialogue with a group of protestors.
Clemmons was kind, compassionate and supportive, Gullege said.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Sheriff Clemmons … was blessed by God to make peace in our community.”
Raleigh City Manager Marchell Adams-David, who previously served as Hamlet’s city manager, recalled how Clemmons stepped up to help her and her family in 2014, calling him committed, loyal, loving, driven and humble, with an infectious smile.
“He had a servant mind and a servant heart,” Adams-David said. “He was well-dressed, and, quite frankly, he was pretty doggone cool.”
Adams-David added that Clemmons was “the glue that kept this community together — and shame on you if you don’t continue the legacy of his work.”
Former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley said Clemmons “epitomized the essence of a true sheriff: A leader in good times and bad times, always putting the safety and wellbeing of others ahead of himself.”
When she was sworn in as chief justice, Beasley said she had two law enforcement escorts: Col. Glenn McNeill (then head of the N.C. State Highway Patrol) and Clemmons.
“His service was about making life better for all of us, making communities better, building trust …,” Beasely said.
Beasely, who never called him “Clem,” said Clemmons understood the obligation of being a good sheriff — and that it was important for him to succeed as African American sheriff.
“He understood the obligation and the duty to model for members of his community, law enforcement community, and the many young people whose lives he touched, the many young people he pulled to the side and redirected their lives,” Beasely said. “We really must understand and cherish the jewel that we had in Sheriff Clemmons.”
The audience also heard from Clemmons’ fraternity brother Ralph Young and Sheriffs Bobby Kimbrough Jr. of Forsyth County, Quentin Miller of Buncombe County and Clemmons’ mentor in the N.C. Sheriffs’ Association, Dr. Hubert Peterkin of Hoke County.
“He wasn’t just a sheriff for Richmond County,” Peterkin said. “He was a statesman. Sheriff Clemmons felt like he had to be involved in everything — in Richmond and the other 99 counties … there will never be, ever, another Sheriff Clemmons! Ever!”
In addition to being the first African American sheriff elected in Richmond County, he was the third to be elected president of the N.C. Sheriff’s Association. Peterkin was the second.
Peterkin said Clemmons had planned to retire last year because “he was exhausted.”
“He did everything but one thing — rest. He didn’t rest.”
But, according to Peterkin, Clemmons stayed on to make sure those under his command got pay raises.
Peterkin said Clemmons hadn’t planned to run again at the end of this term — but Clemmons admitted during a conversation the night before he died that he had changed his mind.
The Hoke County Sheriff said Clemmons also made another revelation, saying, “If something happens to me, this is what has to take place: I want my chief deputy to take my place.”
Although he wasn’t on the schedule to speak, Clemmons’ son James took the stage to say a few words.
“I know everyone here that’s ever lost someone don’t want to hear, ‘It’s going to be OK,” the younger Clemmons said. “But, I will tell you, from his son, it is going to be OK. You will take it one step at a time, one second at a time, one hour at a time one day at a time. You will be OK.”
He then turned his attention to the deputies.
“I get it, my dad’s gone, it’s OK. Mark is in charge now,” Clemmons said. “I want y’all to follow him. He’s been taught, he’s been trained, he’s been groomed. He’s not my dad, he is not. He’s Mark. Look at him as that. Am I understood.”
His next message was directly to Gulledge.
“On behalf of my father, I’m going to tell you this: Do it your way. Not like dad’s way, ‘cause if you do, you will fail. Do it your way … Grab it by the reins … ride this mug till the wheels fall off.”
Following the ceremony, Clemmons body was taken to his hometown of Southport for burial.
