“He left all his blood, sweat and tears on this highway:” Highway named after the former Clarendon County Sheriff

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – Family, friends, local law enforcement and elected officials have gathered in Clarendon County to honor a former sheriff.

The stretch of I-95 from Manning just north of Santee will now be known as the “Randolph Garrett, Jr. Memorial Highway” for Randy Garrett, who died last year at the age of 64.

His daughters spoke about the significance of this moment.

“We are moved to be loved by all of these people. Dad was loved by everyone who joins us here today. It is truly an honor for him, for us,” said Lamonda Garrett.

“We are very, very proud of him and the sacrifices he made and he was a wonderful lawyer, but above that he was an amazing father,” said Brittney Garrett.

Lake City Police Chief Kipp Coker worked with Garrett when he was Sheriff of Clarendon County. Coker says Garrett traveled regularly on the dedicated stretch of I-95.

“When he was patrolling, before he became sheriff and police chief, he was patrolling the highway. He was doing interdiction work, taking illegal narcotics, illegal products off the highway with these cartels and drug dealers. He left all his blood and sweat and tears on this highway on these roads in this county, ”Coker said.

The dedication was made possible through the hard work of the Garrett family and a resolution brought forward by District 36 State Senator Kevin Johnson.

“Randy and I were very close. He was a good friend, a good police officer. When I was the mayor of Manning, we were fortunate enough to hire him as chief of police, ”Johnson said.

Garrett served Clarendon County for nearly a decade after being elected in 2008, a position he held until current Sheriff Tim Baxley was sworn in in 2017.

Prior to that, Garrett was Manning’s police chief.

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