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Deputy Sheriff

James "Jerry" Critchelow

Ohio County Sheriff's Office — Hartford, KY

Cardiac

End of Watch April 20, 2022

Age 65

Tour of Duty 43 yrs

The Vigil Panel 179 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Jerry Critchelow died five days after suffering a heart attack while directing traffic on Route 231 in front of Ohio County High School.

He drove himself to a local medical facility after experiencing symptoms before being flown to the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington. His condition continued to worsen and he passed away on April 20th, 2022.

Deputy Critchelow had served with the Ohio County Sheriff's Office for 13 years and was assigned as the school resource officer. He previously served with the Kentucky State Police for 30 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife, daughters, granddaughters, mother, and siblings.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-KY-5191C20C
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

43 years. You could have gone home.
Deputy Sheriff Critchelow gave the Ohio County Sheriff's Office 43 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Hartford community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Critchelow.

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

Agency

Department Ohio County Sheriff's Office

Location Hartford, KY

Platform Identity ocso.ohio.ky.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 20, 2022

Tour of Duty 43 yrs

Age 65

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Cause Detail Heart attack

Deputy Sheriff James "Jerry" Critchelow is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In KY, 44 of 983 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.5% of this state's fallen. That is 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

Ohio County Sheriff's Office

of 1 officers

100% Cardiac

KY — Statewide

of 983 officers

4.5% Cardiac

Nationwide

1,306

of 32,508 officers

4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. James "Jerry" Critchelow's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How James "Jerry" Critchelow Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years

Years of Service