Roll of Honor
Harold Paul Smith Jr.
Incident
Corrections Officer IV Skip Smith died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 during an outbreak among employees and inmates at the Rufe Jordan Unit at 1992 Helton Road in Pampa.
Officer Smith had served with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 5-1/2 years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Corrections Officer IV Harold Paul Smith Jr. died on December 15, 2020 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 77.
He is one of 884 officers honored here, and one of 55 at Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters, and seven grandchildren.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-61DFCE74- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 tribute.
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Tributes
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Corrections Officer IV Smith gave the Texas Department of Criminal Justice 5 years.
Thank you for your service to the Huntsville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Corrections Officer IV Smith.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Corrections Officer IV Harold Paul Smith Jr. is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In TX, 204 of 2,422 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 8.4% of this state's fallen. That is 8.4 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division, 55 of 124 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 44.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Harold Paul Smith Jr.'s cause is highlighted.
How Harold Paul Smith Jr. Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Harold Paul Smith Jr. is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
123 officers from Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
