Jackie Dean West was born on October 23, 1946 in Herrin to Dean West and Vada Newton. Jack’s father, Dean West, served as Williamson County Sheriff from 1958-1962.
He was a graduate of Marion High School in the class of 1965 along with his sister, Judy, and was on the MHS football team all four years.
Jack was in the United States Navy and served two tours in Vietnam and was a lifetime member of the Marion VFW. Continue reading
Charles “Yobbie” Edwards was a WWII veteran, deputy sheriff under two Sheriff terms and served as Marion Chief of Police from 1954 to 1967. He was born in Galatia on October 1, 1915, a son of Delmon Lee Edwards (1887-1923) and Myrtle Miller. Four years after Charles was born, his father, Delmon, filled out his WW I registration card and noted that he was 27, he was married, had four children and lived on E. DeYoung in Marion working as a self-employed teamster which probably meant he had his own truck. Continue reading
Marion Woman Finally Working as Police Officer
Dawn Williams (now, Tondini) can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a police officer.
As a baby she loved to dress up in her father’s police hat, and his leather slapstick was her favorite teething ring. When she learned to read, she turned first to her dad’s police training books.
Her ambition became reality recently when the 27 year old was sworn in as the first female patrol officer in the Marion Police Department. She has worked as a dispatcher for the department since April 1992, and was a member of the police auxiliary for 1 ½ years before that. Continue reading
Marion Police Chief Retires After 21 Years on Force
“Twenty one years of other people’s troubles” is how the retiring Marion Police Chief describes his career on the force.
“I’m gonna start on my own life now, but I’m gonna try to keep it straight,” John F. Kelley added with a laugh.
Today was his final day as a policeman. He became Chief in May, 1967. He has been night chief since 1955. Continue reading
In early 1924, prohibition had been in effect for years and as a result, many locals had turned to cranking out their own illegal “hootch” in copper stills, a problem that wouldn’t entirely go away until the late 1950’s, even after prohibition was long since revoked.
The attached photo illustrates the level which illegal alcohol production had reached, when a Courtney’s moving truck, was required to haul all the illegal booze back to the Williamson County Jail on S. Van Buren St. for disposal after the latest raid in February, 1924. Continue reading