FORMER CHIEF DIES Former Milton Police Chief Dies After Performing Gospel Song
Reported by: Jeff Morris
Web Producer: Jeff Morris
Reported: Jan. 2, 2013 3:15 PM EST
Updated: Jan. 2, 2013 4:30 PM EST
Eyewitness News Photo
Milton
, Cabell County
, West Virginia
Residents in Milton are mourning the loss of the town’s former police chief, who died after he became ill at a gospel sing.
John E. “Big John” Bledsoe Sr., 58, died Sunday in Glendale, according to his obituary. Current Milton Police Chief Gary Lilly said that Bledsoe’s son told him that the former chief had just finished performing a gospel song when he became ill.
“He was a fine man and officer, and I worked with him quite a while,” Lilly said. “At one point, he was referred to as a gospel singer with a badge.”
Lilly said Bledsoe was chief for at least 12 years. When he retired from the job, he went to work for the Cabell County Board of Education as a bus driver.
According to his obituary, he was a member of the Union Baptist Church of Milton and the Southern Gospel Music Association, where he was nominated for male vocalist and quartet of the year and nominated for song of the year, "I Know Where You Are." He sang in quartets for the past 35 years and was an honorary Nebraska safety patrolman.
A funeral service will be conducted for Bledsoe at 11 a.m. Thursday at Chapman’s Mortuary in Huntington.
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Jeff Morris
