Former Marion County Sheriff Gary Lee Verwers passed away Tuesday, October 4 at the Knoxville Hospital and Clinics. Verwers graduated from Knoxville High School with the Class of 1964. Verwers was the first school resource officer for the Knoxville Community School District. He later became a deputy, and then Chief Deputy at the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. He later served as Sheriff, retiring in 2007. Verwers also served as a volunteer for Knoxville Fire & Rescue and the Knoxville Raceway Fire Crew. He was also a past president of the Marion County Fair Board.

Former Sheriff Ron Goemaat was a Chief Deputy for Sheriff Verwers and shares his thoughts on their partnership…”I worked under Gary as his Chief Deputy for a number of years. He was a good fellow to work for and I enjoyed working around him. We went on a number of calls together. I always knew he had my back and I had his. We continued to be good friends all along. He was just a straight up nice guy.”

Current Sheriff Jason Sandholdt has fond memories of Verwers, “Gary was just one of those salt of the earth guys. He didn’t care if you were the richest person in town or the poorest  person in town. He treated you the same, with respect and dignity. That was something I always admired about him. Everybody knew Gary, he was one of those guys. When dealing with somebody in law enforcement he didn’t always just look at what the person did, if they broke the law or committed a crime. He would look and try to figure out why it happened and I always respected him for that.”

A Memorial Service will be held Monday, October 10th, at 10:00 a.m. at Bybee & Davis Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Graceland Cemetery. A Masonic Service will be held Sunday, October 9th at 4:00 p.m. at Bybee & Davis Funeral Home, and the family will receive friends from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.