Hundreds came out to pay their respects to former Bibb County Sheriff Raymond Wilkes, Sr.
He passed away over the weekend at the age 82 of natural causes.
People remembered a sheriff who put others first, and through his own stories taught lessons to those around him.
"I've known Sheriff Wilkes for over 47 years, most of my life," says Bibb County Sheriff Jerry Modena.
For Sheriff Modena, it comes as a loss of a mentor. He says he still called the former sheriff for advice right until the end.
"He's telling a story, but he's giving me pointers on how I should handle this and handle that," Sheriff Modena says of his former boss.
Wilkes' son, Ray Wilkes, Jr. says for his father, law enforcement served almost as an extension of his own family.
"Dad was always looking for someone to help," he says.
Wilkes, Jr. and sister Cathy Pittman say that helping hand came from very humble beginnings, growing up as a mill worker in Bibb County.
"(He) never forgot where he came from, never forgot what it was like to be hungry once. He was all the time trying to help somebody. And usually the conversations always ended, 'Do you need anything? What can I do for you?'" Wilkes says.
The siblings say their dad sent a message that family should always come first.
"If anybody was hurt, he was there to pick up the pieces. And it was always, 'This is no big deal. This isn't a problem we can't solve,'" Wilkes says.
The storyteller left behind a legacy that police and sheriff's deputies from counties across Central Georgia came out to honor.
Sheriff Wilkes started in the Bibb County Sheriff's Department in 1952 as a deputy.
He worked his way through the ranks, serving as sheriff for 15 years until he retired in 1992.
