BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
This Saturday, Aug. 27, is Sheriff Dolph Reddish Day in Bradford County in celebration of his 90th birthday.
County commissioners approved the proclamation Aug. 18, read into the record by Sheriff Gordon Smith.
Dolph Eugene Reddish was born on the family farm in Heilbronn Springs on Aug. 27, 1932. He is the son of Pete D. “P.D.” and Ruth (Sapp) Reddish — both members of old Bradford County families.
Reddish was the second oldest of seven boys. He is the only one, however, who followed in his father’s footsteps into politics.
“The Reddishes were some of the first people to settle in Bradford County,” Reddish said in a 2014 Telegraph article. “The family came down from Jessup in Wayne County, Georgia, where there was a pair of father and son sheriffs. I’ve seen the first voter roll for this county, and there are about a dozen Reddishes on it.”
Reddish went to work for his father — who had been elected sheriff in 1948 — at the jail and on the roads as a deputy in 1957 after graduating high school and returning home from the Air Force.
Reddish said he had never had any idea about getting into law enforcement, but he needed the job, so he took it. He moved into the jail (then on Broadway Street) with his family and stayed there until 1960. Reddish lived downstairs, and the prisoners lived upstairs.
“It was a very consuming job, with something going on all the time,” Reddish said. “Dad was the boss. I had no training in law enforcement or corrections, but I soon learned. I guess you could say that I had on-the-job training.”
The longer he stayed, the more he learned both from experienced and formalized training. Eventually, he became chief investigator for the department. He said he learned to make hard decisions and “to speak to people frankly and directly with limited BS.” He quickly learned the best way was to tell it like it is and to make quick, right decisions based on the circumstances known at the time. He said if this was done sincerely, then the decision was usually the right one.
Then, when his father retired from office, he learned about small town politics when he ran and won the office of sheriff in 1972. After that first campaign, he held the office for several more terms unopposed.
As the proclamation declaring Sheriff Dolph Reddish Day states, Reddish served his county with distinction.
Before reading the proclamation, Sheriff Smith thanked Reddish for all of the contributions to his life.
“What you’ve done for your community, not only you but your father — 40 years of law enforcement serving the citizens. And you really, you paved the way for modernizing the sheriff’s office,” Smith said. He thanked the Reddish family as well for their sacrifices, explaining people don’t understand what an all-consuming job the sheriff has.
Smith also thanked Col. Brad Smith for approaching him with the idea for this proclamation from the county commission.
Reddish gave credit to those who worked with him throughout the years, saying he had a lot of help along the way.
An article by Tracy Tate contributed significantly to this story.
