Willie James Blakely

Laurens County Sheriff's Office — Laurens, SC

Accident

End of Watch March 30, 1980

Age 35

The Vigil Panel 122 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 5

Incident

Deputy Blakely was struck and killed by a vehicle while directing traffic at the scene of a previous accident.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-SC-C3698E1B
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

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Blakely served with the Laurens County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Laurens community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Blakely.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Laurens County Sheriff's Office

Type Sheriff's Office

Location Laurens, Laurens County, SC

Platform Identity lcso.laurens.sc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 30, 1980

Age 35

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Deputy Sheriff Willie James Blakely is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In SC, 138 of 441 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.3% of this state's fallen. That is 31.3 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Laurens County Sheriff's Office, 3 of 6 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.

Laurens County Sheriff's Office

of 6 officers

50% Accident

SC — Statewide

138

of 441 officers

31.3% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,772 officers

0% Accident