Homer Holbrooks, Macon County Sheriff from 1986 to 2002 and father of Sheriff Brent Holbrooks, passed away at age 77 on Aug. 29.
Holbrooks was born on March 23, 1948, and grew up in the Cartoogechaye and Burningtown communities. He attended Franklin High School, where he played a variety of sports including football, before graduating in 1966.
Dennis Sanders, who played football with Holbrooks at FHS, said he believes Holbrooks played all four years of high school and was an exceptional athlete in that time.
“He was very well-liked by other students, but he didn’t have a big head,” Sanders said. “He was jovial, always had a smile. He was a great guy and he’ll be missed by a lot of people, including me.”
According to his obituary, Holbrooks was voted “most athletic” of his graduating class, and after high school worked at the A&P Grocery Store for 18 years before running for sheriff of Macon County. Sheriff Brent Holbrooks said he remembered Homer saying he would “hopefully win, that way he wouldn’t have to run a shovel no more.”
In 1986, Holbrooks won his election and took his work seriously, according to former sheriff Robert Holland, who early in his career served under Holbrooks. Following Holbrooks’s retirement in 2002, Holland ran for sheriff, winning and holding that seat until his retirement in 2021. Brent Holbrooks won the sheriff’s race in 2021, following in his father’s footsteps.
“Sheriff Holbrooks was a very humble man,” Holland said. “He was very kind, was always welcoming to people. I remember him always encouraging us to make sure that we treated others with respect — even when they’ve made mistakes … they’re held accountable for their actions, but when we’re holding them accountable to make sure that we treat them with utmost respect because as he would always say, ‘that’s somebody’s family member.’”
Holland said Holbrooks acted as a confidant for the department. “It was not uncommon, if you had a problem or any issue for you to be able to go and sit down with the sheriff and have a conversation, whether it be work-related or personal.”
“He was always up for jokes, he always had a huge sense of humor,” Holland continued, “loved to see pranks pulled on people … we had a chief deputy at one time named Bryant Holland who was the same way. They both were quite the pranksters.”
Chris Browning, a former sheriff’s deputy who worked under Holbrooks, said he “had strict policy, but was very fair.”
Browning worked with Holbrooks for only a few years before his retirement but said he has met with Holbrooks post-retirement to catch up. “I loved to listen to his old stories from the sheriff’s department or swap hunting stories.”
Holland said Holbrooks was the reason he was able to make it to sheriff, giving him the opportunity to start with the department as a volunteer before working his way up to full-time employee.
“I can’t stress enough how appreciative of him that I am,” Holland said. “I recognize what he has done for me in my life. I’m just so extremely thankful. He was a good man and loved his family … loved his children as well as his grandchildren. He’ll always be Sheriff Holbrooks to me, and I’ll always hold him with the utmost esteem.”
“My dad treated everyone the same,” said Brent Holbrooks. “Behind the badge or in his hunting clothes. Everyone was treated the same … I want to say I got some of his qualities as sheriff growing up, seeing him as sheriff, how to treat people.”
Brent has come to understand why his dad was so busy, yet said, “For him being constantly busy, he was still making time for me and my sister. He was definitely a family man. He lost his dad in 1970, and for him to be such a great father to my sister and I and still hold down the office as sheriff. He would always tell his employees: God first, family, then your job. I heard that a lot.”
“The ultimate thing Homer Holbrooks would want to be remembered for was being a godly man; and that’s all I ever knew him to be,” said Chief Deputy Adam Wishon. “Homer hired me in 1997, and he saw a lot of changes during his tenure. For the entire time I worked for him, he truly led by example.”
“Homer was one of the best bosses I’ve ever had,” said Major Jonathan Phillips. “Despite law enforcement being a taxing job at times, Homer always strived to make the Sheriff’s Office a good place to work. And if he needed to correct you or have a difficult conversation with you, you would always leave his office still feeling respected, and that was one thing I appreciated the most about him. He was always kind and fair to everyone, both employees and the public he served.”
Heavily involved in the community, Holbrooks was a member of Burningtown Baptist Church and a founding member of the Macon County Coon Club and the Burningtown Fire Department.
The Coon Club served as an outlet for Holbrooks’ love of nature and hunting, but also may have been a way for him to give opportunities to children, said Browning. He said that the club often worked to inspire children to get outdoors.
“Not only was he a great father, but just a great community member. He loved Macon County,” Brent said.
Homer Holbrooks was laid to rest at Burningtown Baptist Church Cemetery on Thursday, Sept. 4, after a ceremony at Prentiss Church of God.