ROCHELLE, Ga. — Folks in Wilcox County say there's a large hole in the heart of the community that Sheriff Robert Rodgers used to fill.
Sheriff Rodgers died Tuesday after losing control of his car and crashing into a tree.
People say that Sheriff Robert Rodgers was everywhere.
"You'd see him in town eating," said Ryan Yancey. "You'd see him over in Abbeville, where the sheriff's office is."
Rodgers was a regular at Vera's Kitchen in downtown Rochelle; Yancey knew him well.
"I actually was a jailer a few years ago at the sheriff's office for about a year and a half," he said."
As a sheriff, Yancey says Rodgers was one of a kind.
"He never took time off. If he said he was going to do something, he made sure it got done. He made sure that all the citizens in Wilcox County, he made sure they were all safe," he explained.
As a friend, Missy McDonald says he was everyone's.
"Everybody loved him, and I think he loved everybody," she said.
McDonald would give him a haircut every now and then.
"He just got a little simple buzz," she laughed.
It'd only take five minutes.
"However, we'd always talked about 15- 20 minutes probably," McDonald said. "He was just jolly; he was always happy."
So, when Yancey drove up on Rodger's crashed car on Tuesday, he was in shock.
"I was coming down Highway 233 after doing some work. There was another citizen out here that was flagging people down," he explained.
Yancey says he saw the car's front grill and knew it was the sheriff's.
"We worked to see if we could pull him out. We couldn't, and that's when we called 911."
Rodgers' face was one people saw every day.
"He was there for everybody," said McDonald. "The whole community is just at a loss right now."
Irreplaceable is how Yancey's uncle, Ronnie Paramore, describes him.
"It's going to take a real good person, you know, if ever. He was just a different type of leader, you know what I mean," Paramore said.
"He was a good man," said Yancey.
Maybe not out everywhere anymore, but in everyone's hearts in Wilcox County.
The Wilcox County sheriff's office said instead of sending flowers, Sheriff Rodgers' family would like folks to make donations to the Georgia Sheriff's Youth Foundation.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, September 2nd, at 2:00 p.m. in the Wilcox High School Gym, with Rev. Richard Compton officiating. Interment will follow in the Christian Home Cemetery with a Presentation of the Honor Guard. Visitation will be at the First Baptist Church of Rochelle on Friday evening from 6:00-8:00 p.m.