SPALDING COUNTY, Ga.,None — Funeral arrangements have been set for Spalding County Sheriff Dee Stewart.
Stewart passed away early Sunday morning from injuries he sustained in a car accident 10 days ago.
Visitation will be held Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. at Second Baptist Church at 501 West Broad St. in Griffin. The funeral is set for Thursday at 12 p.m. at Second Baptist Church.
Flags were lowered to half-staff in Spalding County Sunday to remember the sheriff who served his community for nearly 40 years.
Channel 2s Erica Byfield caught up with some of Stewarts friends as they took to the airwaves on WKEU radio in Griffin, remembering their friend and colleague.
We got the news this morning that he had passed away, said Bill Taylor, who owns and runs WKEU.
Taylor grew up with Stewart and said it broke his heart to share the news of his friend's death with the county.
It was the hardest thing Ive ever done. It was the hardest thing they've done because it was such a dear friend plus a cornerstone of our community, Taylor said.
He considered the sheriff a close friend like so many in Spalding County.
The story is, if you've been in Spalding County more than 15 minutes, you've got a Dee Stewart story, friend Dave Phillips said.
Last month, Stewart was involved in a crash on Highway 3 near Moose Lodge Road.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations later determined the sheriff failed to yield while attempting to cross the roadway.
Another driver, who happened to be his grandson, hit Stewart.
The force of the crash pushed the sheriff's vehicle into the woods.
Taylor said he will especially miss how his friend knew how to connect with the community.
Seen him in the courthouse one day and a little girl was crying. He asked her want was wrong, and she said her mother and father were getting a divorce and she had lost her dog. And the next day, she had a dog. Dee was that kind of guy, Taylor said.
WSBTV
