Condolences began flooding social media on Christmas Day when word spread that a former beloved Louisville police chief had died.

Retired SFC Eugene Harold Hamric,II who was affectionately known as Gene or Chief among his many friends and often referred to as “Barney Fife”, suffered from an apparent stroke Wednesday morning. He was airlifted to Southeast Health in Dothan where he succumbed Wednesday evening at the age of 70.

Funeral services were held Tuesday, December 31 in the chapel of Glover Funeral Home in Eufaula at 10 a.m. Burial with military honors followed at 12:30 p.m. CST at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery.

Chief Hamric had served the citizens of Louisville and Barbour County in law enforcement for 30 years prior to his retirement on August 11, 2023. He joined the Louisville Police Department on July 7, 1993 and graduated from the Montgomery Police Academy in 1994. He worked as an officer with the police departments in Louisville, Clayton and Bakerhill as well as with the Barbour County Sheriff’s Department. On October 29, 2016, he assumed the position of police chief in Louisville.

Prior to becoming a police officer, Hamric entered the U.S. Army after graduating from high school in 1973 and completed his first Military Police Academy August 8, 1973. He served in the Army for 20 years before retiring on July 1, 1993.

Chief Hamric considered it a “privilege and honor to serve as a police officer and to be in the position to protect the citizens of Barbour County” as stated in his own word during an interview prior to his retirement in

2023. Erwin Henry Miller, a Louisville native, posted, “Louisville lost a good man today and he definitely served Louisville well for many, many years.”

Current police chief in Louisville, Jamey Williams, wrote, “Rest in peace my dear brother. You will be missed by many” and Louisville Baptist Church post stated, “Please lift the family of our friend, Gene Hamric, up in prayers. He will be missed by his church family.”