Butler County says goodbye to former sheriff

Gabbard was dressed in his uniform and his casket held a photo of of his wedding day to wife, Phyllis, and another of his beloved dog Buddy.

“He loved to laugh … loved life,” said Pastor Stanley Booher at the funeral service at Fairfield Wesleyan Church.

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones, who married into Gabbard’s family — his wife, Becky, is Gabbard’s niece — remembered the Hamilton County native as a boss, commanding sheriff and friend.

Gabbard first ran for sheriff against an incumbent, the late Sheriff Richard Holzberger. Jones, who worked at Lebanon Correctional Institution, remembered the campaign well, because Gabbard was not picked to win and ran his campaign on little money.

“But he put in a lot of heart,” Jones said, noting the night Gabbard took office he began working as his chief deputy.

Gabbard dropped out of school at an early age to work, but later got his GED and took classes at Miami University. The sheriff was known as a spelling and grammar master, Jones said.

“No matter what we took in to him to sign, he would find a mistake,” Jones said, “And we’d read it 10 times.”

Gabbard liked to hunt, fish and play golf. And when it came to running the sheriff’s office, “he used common sense in everything he did,” Jones said.

Modernization of the sheriff’s office happened under Gabbard’s leadership, Jones said, noting he is responsible for the current jail and the formation of a cold-case division that has solved many crimes.

“He was smart enough to hire smart people and let them work,” Jones said, noting “he liked a good joke, he liked his cigarettes, just like I like my cigars.”

Jones turned to the casket and saluted.

“Farewell,” he said.

The funeral procession traveled from Fairfield up Pleasant Avenue to Rose Hill Burial Park on Princeton Road, where his casket was carried to his final resting place by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office caisson with the bagpipe unit in the lead.

Gabbard is survived by his wife, six children, 13 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, as well as a brother.