MADISON — A newlywed deputy who died as result of an on-duty crash during an ice storm was laid to rest, and his badge was retired Tuesday during a graveside service at Natchez Trace Memorial Park Cemetery.

During the short, solemn ceremony, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace called out three times over the emergency dispatch radio the badge number of Johnny Gatson, who died March 10.

“WC-43,” Pace repeated with no answer but the soft sobs of Gaton’s widow and daughters.

“All units, all stations, be advised WC-43 is no longer available for calls. He’s completed his mission and arrived at his final destination with our Lord,” Pace said.

Afterward, Pace announced that Gatson’s badge number would be retired.

Gatson, who was 58, was passionate about law enforcement, though he waited until late in life to become a certified officer, said his widow, Deborah Lee Gatson.

“That was one of his dreams, to go into law enforcement,” she said.

The couple had planned on retiring together in a few years, but Johnny never got the chance. In February, Gatson hit a patch of black ice on Oak Ridge Road and struck a tree, fracturing his leg just below the kneecap. A blood clot from the injury ended his life 15 days later.

He had joked about the injury and planned to return to work in a few weeks, the Rev. Dr. Willie Nettles said during his funeral.

“Johnny stayed in good spirits,” Deborah said.

Johnny’s good spirit is what first attracted her to him. Their first date — a blind date set up through a mutual friend a year ago Monday — was all but a disaster. He showed up in wrinkled pants, a wrinkled shirt and still wearing the wedding ring from his first marriage. He had been married to Charlotte Gatson for more than 30 years before she died of cancer in 2011.

Johnny, Deborah recalls, got out of his car and said to himself “you fool,” for the way he had presented himself.

“He called again and asked if he could redeem himself,” she said.

The next date was magical, and a few months later he proposed. They married Dec. 27.

“Johnny had two kids, but when we got married, we had eight kids. He loved every last one of them like they were his own,” Deborah said.

Before Johnny joined the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, he worked for the Canton Police Department and had been a teacher in Holmes and Madison counties. Before his work in education, he was in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1978 until 2001. Members of a Marine Corps honor guard presented a flag used to drape his casket to Deborah.

Pace recalled Gatson as being one of the most professional, courteous law enforcement agents around.

“His death was a tragic loss to the sheriff’s office and to this community,” Pace said. “He was always courteous and professional. He was dedicated to duty and always a gentleman.”

His kind, gentle attitude carried over to his family life, his daughter ShaWanda Jacome said.

“What you guys saw as a police officer, a husband and a friend, we saw as a dad,” she said before reading a poem at her father’s funeral.

Gatson requested a brief funeral, and had written his own obituary, Nettles told the crowd of more than 300 people gathered for a service earlier in the day at Bypass Church of Christ.

“Those who knew him best can hear his saying even today “It’s OK to cry, but keep your heads up,” Nettle said.

Gatson was the first deputy to be killed in the line of duty since 2010 when David Lambert died as the result of a blood clot caused by a patrol car crash on U.S. 61 North.