Nine days short of his 40th birthday, Warren County Deputy Sheriff Tom Wilson died early Sunday morning when his cruiser flipped on U.S. 61 South.

Today, his colleagues remembered Wilson as an officer with an infectious sense of humor who was as dedicated to the badge as he was to his family.

“This was not a job for him, it was a calling,” said Sheriff Martin Pace. “I’ve never met anyone who so thoroughly enjoyed his job day in and day out. He loved serving the people of this community, and it showed.”

Wilson, a deputy since January 2008 and a Vicksburg police officer for 16 years before that, heard dispatchers calling to check on an ambulance crew shortly after 1 a.m. The medical personnel had lost radio contact and Wilson was southbound to check on them.

It had been raining and Wilson’s sedan apparently hit a pocket of standing water on the four-lane highway near the intersection with Grange Hall Road, hydroplaned and flipped. He was pronounced dead at the scene, said Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey. An autopsy performed Sunday cited trauma to the head as the cause of death, Huskey said.

Vicksburg Police Lt. Bobby Stewart said he could tell Wilson was going to be an exceptional police officer from the day Wilson joined the force in 1992.

“We just hit it off right away. He would actually work the shift before me, and then stay on to ride with me so he could learn more,” recalled Stewart. “He had an eagerness to learn, and he wanted to be as knowledgeable about the job as he could be. Every time he put on that badge and uniform he gave the community 110 percent.”

Stewart had been on the force for three years when Wilson was hired after completing criminal justice studies at the University of Southern Mississippi. Wilson, Stewart and Billy Brown — who joined VPD in 1991 and has been with the sheriff’s department since September 2008 — formed a brotherly bond as the young officers learned the job together. Their families have spent countless holidays together, and they always looked forward to getting together each year for a Super Bowl party at Wilson’s home, said Brown.

“I started calling him ‘Brother’ years ago, and that’s all I’ve called him since,” Brown said. “Tom was just the most complete law enforcement officer I’ve ever met or worked with. It was a career he chose at an early age, and something he always wanted to do. Tom had the same philosophy as I do: What makes you a good police officer is that you have a strong moral character in your personal life and a strong family foundation. Tom lived that philosophy.”

Wilson would have celebrated his 40th birthday on May 26. He is survived by his wife, Betty, two children, Tyler Tharp, 19, and Colin, 10, and his parents, Tom Jr. and Shelby Wilson of Hamburg. Services for Wilson will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Bowmar Baptist Church on U.S. 61 South, with visitation to begin at 9 a.m. Burial will be at Green Acres Cemetery. Riles Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.

After graduating from Warren Central High School, he went to USM, where he helped pay his college costs by working as a campus police officer. He also had a three-month internship with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department.

Pace said Wilson was about two miles from the ambulance when the sedan flipped.

“He was volunteering to help out. Typical Tom Wilson,” Pace said. “It’s truly like losing a family member. It’s tough, but probably the greatest tribute that we can make to Tom is to continue to serve the people of this community in the most professional manner possible — which is exactly what Tom would be doing if he were here.”

The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol is working on recreating the wreck to determine the cause, said Sgt. James Walker. Pace said there is no indication Wilson would have been traveling at a very high rate of speed in response to the call, and noted the stretch of U.S. 61 South where Wilson was killed is notoriously dangerous in wet weather.

“That’s a treacherous stretch of highway that is notorious for holding pockets of water,” he said. “It appears at this time that the vehicle simply hydroplaned. He was not making any evasive maneuvers or anything like that.”

The scene was less than a half-mile from where an SUV driven by then Warren County Coroner John Thomason hydroplaned off the highway and into a gas pipe on July 22, 2006. Thomason was killed in the wreck, which resulted in an explosion and fire.

Brown said the atmosphere around the sheriff’s office will never be the same without Wilson, nor will his career or personal life.  

“The hardest thing is going to be going back to work. It’s not going to be the same job,” he said. “We worked together for 16 years. I’m never going to form that kind of bond and kinship again — that’s what hurts so bad. The last part of my career is not going to be as fruitful as the first part because he’s gone. You can’t replace him.”

Along with is dedication to the force, Wilson was remembered by Pace for his ability to find a silver lining in every situation.

“He was just plain funny. He had an incredible sense of humor, and he never lost his enthusiasm for life,” he said. “He enjoyed life every day.”

Wilson was the first officer in Vicksburg or Warren County to be killed in the line of duty since jailer A.H. “Holly” Koerper was stabbed to death by an inmate while working alone the morning of July 6, 1976. Last week was the annual memorial event for officers killed in the line of duty. Wilson, who was working nights, was also the first officer on the scene 4 minutes after a call to Friday night’s mobile home fire in which two toddlers died.

*

Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com