Maj. H.E. (Eddie) Clark retires from Sheriff’s Office after 42 years

Eddie Clark began his career at Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office on July 1, 1980 just two weeks after he graduated from James River High School. He has worked for five Sheriffs, Norman Sprinkle, Jerry Caldwell, Reed Kelly, Ronnie Sprinkle and Matt Ward. “The people I worked with in the Sheriff’s Office over the 42 years were the best. They made the job better by their support.”

He began his career in the jail, “Times were different then,” Clark noted. The old jail sat on the hill behind the courthouse. ” Some nights in those days you could be the only one serving the jail.” He went to the jailers academy. Stage one in his career in law enforcement.

In 1984, he attended Cardinal Justice Academy and became a road deputy.

During his tenure he saw many sad events. The exhuming of the body of young Phadra Carter who was murdered, was among the roughest. That event took place back in 1993.

He and officer Luke Bennett participated in “a man with a gun call in Buchanan.” The perpertrator fired on the two deputies, Clark received a cut on his ear from flying glass and his cruiser was riddled with bullets. ” Luke likely saved my life,” he said. “The shooter was killed.”

He was one of the Botetourt Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team to the chaos of April 16, 2007 and the mass shooting by Seung Hui Cho at VA Tech. The Botetourt ERT was the first on the scene from outside law enforcement. Briefly some of our residents saw Clark on the national news that evening as he was at a car bringing his gun. The result from that day when 32 students and staff lost their lives to the shooter, the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office trained many other Departments around the area in how to respond to a mass shooting. The ERT received a commendation for their efforts.

He repeated, ” I was always blessed to have good people around me.” He was part of the Services Department for the last years of his career. He retires at the rank of Major and that reflects his value to the Sheriff’s Department,

The people of Botetourt County especially young people, were fortunate to interact with Clark through his volunteerism. He said of those years “Once I was on Daylight, I was able to support Toys for Bot-E-Tots in more engagement and to coach Rec League and then School sports. “

He recieved a Gold Badge at his retirement party. Other commendations from his years at the Sheriff’s Office include EMS citation award for saving a life in a medical alert, Medal of Valor, Unit Citation for the Emergncy Response Team, Service Ribbons and an award from the Sons of the American Revolution.

“I couldn’t have done all these years without the support of my wife, Annette. She has been by my side the whole way.” The Clarks have two grown sons Mitchell and Cort and a grandson.

Congratulations Eddie. Enjoy your retirement and thank you for your long term commitment to Serve and Protect the citizens of Botetourt, and broadly the state of Virginia.

–Cathy Benson, photos Annette Clark and Cathy Benson