“He took the sheriff’s office to the next step,” said Sheriff Richard K. Jones, the current sheriff, who joined the department with Gabbard, after Gabbard’s first election. “He modernized the computers, he modernized the fleet, he came up with the cold-case division — he was the sheriff responsible for the cold cases that were solved that were 30- and 40 years old.
“He was responsible for getting the new jail built,” Jones added. “He was well-known all over the country, as far as sheriffs went.”
“Great guy to work for,” Jones said. “He had huge amounts of experience. He’s going to be missed by many.”
“And, a great family man,” Jones added.
Jones said Gabbard “had not been feeling well for a while,” but was looking good and was energetic during a recent visit to the sheriff’s office, where he spoke with employees he had hired, and did some reminiscing.
“He was just livin’ the dream, he said. He wanted to be sheriff, and he got his goal — he got to live his dream,” Jones said.
State Rep. Wes Retherford, R–Hamilton, said, “Sheriff Gabbard was one of the best. His service to this county was top notch. His family has my deepest sympathies and prayers.”
“He loved to fish and hunt, and loved to tell jokes,” Jones said. “Real funny guy. You couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. He tricked me a lot. He could really hold a straight face. He was a very good poker player. Many a man and woman have lost to his poker hand.”
“He knew police work like no other I’ve ever worked for,” Jones said. The way he carried himself, “the men all respected him — they would do anything for him,” Jones said. “Just a great guy to work for, but he was the boss, and there was no mistake about it.”
In 2012, Gabbard donated $25,000 left over from his political contributions to Miami University Hamilton and the O'Tucks organization there, which promotes the region's awareness of its Appalachian heritage.
The Brown-Dawson-Flick Funeral Home is handling arrangements. The funeral home’s website says Gabbard is survived by his wife, Phyllis Jean Gabbard; children, Shirley (Doug) Smith-Estep, Donna (Roger) Brooks, Pamela (Charles) Couch, Harold Don (Teresa) Gabbard Jr., Gary (Karen) Gabbard, and Joseph Gabbard; 13 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; a brother, Burton Gabbard Jr.; and his dog, Buddy.
He was preceded in death by a son, Isaac Gabbard; a granddaughter, Angela Couch; brothers, Alvin “Duke” and Robert “Bobby” Gabbard; sisters, Alma Hymer and Amelia Gabbard; and his parents.
Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home’s 1350 Millville Ave. location. A funeral service will be held 10 a.m. Saturday at Fairfield Wesleyan Church in Fairfield, with burial at Rose Hill Burial Park.
The sheriff’s office will pull his casket on a caisson, a horse-drawn cart used in ceremonial funeral processions, with an honor guard, in what Jones called “a fitting passing for someone of his stature and what he’s done for the sheriff’s office, and for the citizens of Butler County.”
Michael D. Pitman contributed to this report.
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