Ronnie White of Eupora, a former Greenwood police chief who also worked for the Mississippi Highway Patrol during a long law enforcement career, died Tuesday at OCH Regional Medical Center in Starkville at the age of 82.
A graduate of Europa High School, Mr. White and his father, Jessie Lowell White, owned and operated White & Son Service Station in Europa. After his father’s death in 1964, Mr. White was accepted into the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Training School and later assigned to patrol in Quitman County.
Assigned by the Highway Patrol in 1964 to enforce the state’s narcotics laws, Mr. White worked and trained with the New Orleans Narcotics Unit. Following his time in New Orleans, he was assigned to Leflore County. Mr. White was later given the opportunity to investigate drug activity with the newly formed Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. He chose to stay with the Highway Patrol and was assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division.
In 1986, Mr. White was promoted to the rank of captain and was assigned to head up Troop D in Greenwood, where he supervised 10 counties in patrol activity. After retiring from the Highway Patrol in 1992, Mr. White was hired as chief of police for Greenwood, where he served until 2005. After retiring from the Greenwood Police Department, he served as a chancery court bailiff in Carroll and Webster counties for several years.
Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said Mr. White was a great man.
“When I was elected mayor, he was no longer with the Police Department,” she said. “When I worked for Delta Correctional Facility, Chief White would always participate in our community lunches, and he was always very pleasant to deal with and talk with.”
He offered her his help when she became mayor. “I can’t tell you how much help he offered,” she said. “I tried getting him to come back as chief, but he just laughed.”
He told her that he would never forget his many years of law enforcement and especially his years as chief.
“He thoroughly enjoyed his job,” she said. “Anybody who worked with him always said great things about Chief White. He was a remarkable person. My prayers go out to his family and friends. I wish that I had worked with him.”
Sheriff Ricky Banks recalled working with Mr. White, then a state trooper, in the fallout after an armed robbery at the Leflore County Country Club in 1979 that resulted in the deaths of two men. At the time, Banks was the sheriff’s department’s chief deputy.
Two of the three suspects fled to Canada When the two men tried to reenter the United States, it was discovered that they were wanted for murder in Mississippi.
Banks said he and Mr. White traveled to New York to deliver the two men back to Leflore County.
“Just a good of a fellow as you’ll ever meet,” Banks said of Mr. White. “He didn’t mind working hard. He had a lot of friends. It couldn’t get any better than him.”
Lawrence Williams, who retired as a detective lieutenant from the Greenwood Police Department in 2015, worked under Mr. White when he served as chief.
“I was truly honored to attend Chief White’s funeral services to show my respect,” Williams said. “He was a great man. In my opinion, he was extremely instrumental in bringing discipline to the department.”
Even though White was a highly disciplined police chief, “he still had compassion for his officers and treated them as family,” Williams said. “He cared deeply about his officers and about the city of Greenwood and its safety.”
He said White was loved and respected by his officers and will be missed.
Services were held at 1 p.m. Friday at Oliver Funeral Home Chapel in Eupora with burial in Evergreen Cemetery in North Carrollton.
