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: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 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

Location Laurens, 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 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In SC, 137 of 438 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.3 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

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

137

of 438 officers

31.3% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident