Donald Gene (obit) HAMMON

December 17, 1942 - February 26, 2005

Funeral services for Don Hammon will be held Wednesday, March 2, 2005, at 10:00 a.m. at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Ruston, Louisiana, with the Very Reverend Edward Head officiating. Burial will follow in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Ruston under the direction of Kilpatrick's Funeral Home of Ruston.
Chief Hammon died suddenly at his home in Ruston on Saturday, February 26, 2005. During his lifetime, Chief Hammon was recognized as one of the ablest law enforcement officers in Louisiana, serving more than forty years at level of law enforcement--parish, state, and federal.
Hammon was born in El Dorado, Arkansas and moved to Ruston when he was ten years old. He received his education in Lincoln Parish and graduated with a B.A. in History from Louisiana Tech. his law enforcement career began when he served in the U.S. Army in the Army Intelligence-Security Agency. He served fourteen months in Korea. In 1966, Hammon graduated from State Police Training Academy in Baton Rouge and was assigned to Lincoln Parish as a uniformed trooper. In 1968, Hammon was employed as a deputy under the Lincoln Parish Sheriff Jesse Riser.
In January 1971, Hammon was employed as a special agent with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (now DEA), an agency of the United States Department of Justice. Upon completion of the National Training Academy in Washington, DC, he was assigned to the New Orleans regional office of the Bureau of Narcotics. Investigations of national and international drug trafficking were his primary assignments. He returned to his home town to accept the position of Ruston Police Chief in October of 1973. As Police Chief, Hammon's innovations and leadership greatly advanced the effectiveness and reputation of the Ruston Police Department. In 1979, Chief Hammon left law enforcement to work in the private sector as General Manager of Porter Chevrolet, two years later he was hired to serve as Chief Deputy under Lincoln Parish Sheriff Wayne Houck.
Chief Hammon served his second stent as Ruston Police Chief from 1986 until he returned to the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Department in 1994. He retired from his position as Chief Deputy in 2004 when Mike Stone became sheriff.
Hammon received numerous awards and much recognition for his service in law enforcement. He served on the Board of Advisors of the Grambling State University Criminal Justice Studies Program; the Northwest Law Enforcement District; the Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police; and the Louisiana Commission of Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice. He was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, serving on the vestry as well as in other capacities.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Byron Eugene and Myrlene Weaver Hammon. Survivors include his wife, Maria Colvin Hammon; daughter, Katie Hammon Taylor; son, David Colvin Hammon and wife Joanne Weir Hammon; two granddaughters, Ellen Maria Taylor and Andie Grace Taylor; brother, Gary Michael Hammon and wife Pat; sister, Chere Hammon Pickett and husband William; father-in-law, Sammie W. Colvin and sister-in-law, Kathy Colvin Barrett.
Pallbearers will be Rodney Colvin, Ardis Stuckey, Wayne Houck, Scott Stuckey, David Frasier, Loy Weaver, Rodney Weaver, and Joe Glasgow. Honorary pallbearers are the law enforcement officers of Ruston and Lincoln Parish.

Contributed on 4/27/17 by debbraszymanski
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Record #: 156730

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