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Always A Hero: Escambia Corrections Officer Honored At State Law Enforcement Memorial
May 4, 2018
Escambia County Corrections Officer Joe William Heddy’s family has always known he was a hero.
They knew him to treat everyone with respect and offer help to anyone who needed it – even complete strangers.
“He gave you anything and everything if he had it,” said his wife of 44 years, Jill Heddy.
Heddy will never be forgotten by those who knew and loved him, and now his name will forever be remembered by the law enforcement community.
Heddy’s name was recently added to the Fraternal Order of Police Law Enforcement Memorial in the Capitol Courtyard in Tallahassee, Florida, joining the 805 other names of law enforcement officers throughout the state who have died in the line of duty.
Heddy was a loving husband, father and grandfather, a member of the Air National Guard and a corrections officer for 35 years, ultimately finishing his career as an Escambia County Corrections officer.
He died of a heart attack while working at the county road prison on June 17, 2017, at age 63.
Heddy was honored at the Fraternal Order of Police’s annual ceremony April 29 and 30 in Tallahassee, along with 13 other fallen officers who were added to the memorial this year. The names will also be inscribed with more than 21,000 others at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.
His wife, Jill, and daughter, Joy Laub, attended the ceremony, surrounded by dozens of families of fallen law enforcement officers. Escambia County Corrections officers Lt. Ron Hankinson and Shannon Hankinson attended in support of the family, along with Assistant County Administrator Matt Coughlin.
Heddy is also survived by his twin sons, Jeffrey and Jason, seven grandchildren and many other family members and friends.
Before working for Escambia County Corrections, Heddy served as a federal corrections officer for 27 years. Laub said her father’s commitment to treating every inmate with respect made him especially good at his job.
“My daddy was a fair man,” she said. “He made a good corrections officer because he didn’t believe that the people who were in there were bad people – he truly believed that they made a bad mistake, and that they could move on from that.”
During the ceremony in Tallahassee, each fallen officer’s name was read aloud, and families were given an opportunity to speak their loved one’s name to honor their memory. Tearful wives, husbands, children and others gathered around the memorial to view their fallen officer’s name engraved among the hundreds of others, with some placing flowers and mementos at the site.
Jill Heddy said seeing her husband honored at the ceremony filled her with pride, but the experience also magnified just how much she misses him. Surrounded by law enforcement officers and police vehicles, she shed tears as bagpipes and drums played during the memorial service.
“His absence is felt even more when we see things he would have liked, like all the motorcycles or the drum band,” she said.
Lt. Ron Hankinson, who worked as Heddy’s supervisor for three years with Escambia County Corrections, remembered him as a fair officer and a good man who had a passion for his family and for helping veterans who were incarcerated.
“He was very dedicated,” Hankinson said. “He was extremely interested in veterans and veteran programs, and he actually would be a liaison between some of them. He would go to the VA and get their benefits started and get the paperwork they needed, and that would give them a base when they got out of jail so they could get the benefits they needed. They were just totally lost, so he would guide them.”
Hankinson said Heddy is deeply missed by all who knew him and had the opportunity to work with him as a corrections officer.
“He was very fair,” Hankinson said. “He followed the rules, but he wasn’t overbearing. He was middle of the road, easygoing – as long as you do what you’re supposed to, everything is fine. He was just a good guy.”
Heddy’s wife and daughter recalled a time when he was in Germany while in the Air Force Reserves and helped save a woman and child caught in a train door as it was leaving the platform. He and another man pried the door open so they could safely get inside the train before it left.
Heddy was awarded the Air Force Medal of Valor for his act of bravery.
“That’s just the way he was, though,” his daughter said. “Every situation where he thought he could help someone, he would get up and do it, no matter what it was.”
Along with the memorials in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., Heddy’s name is being inscribed in the American Police Hall of Fame & Museum in Titusville, Florida.
Although Heddy’s family doesn’t need memorials or plaques to remember him, they expressed their gratitude and pride in knowing his name will forever be memorialized – especially for the young grandchildren he left behind.
“Now they’ve got a hero to look up to,” Jill Heddy said.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
2 Responses to “Always A Hero: Escambia Corrections Officer Honored At State Law Enforcement Memorial”
Wonderful. Joe was a great guy to work with and will be remembered here.
The Lord knows when we are going home and it sounds as if Officer Heddy lived each day ready to meet his maker, an excellent reason for his family to be proud!