Among the many that attended the visitation and funeral of former Izard County Sheriff Donnie Joe Yancey who passed away May 29, 2015 were law enforcement officers from several agencies   in north central and north east Arkansas. The Pine Bluff Police Department’s honor guard were at the cemetery to provide the traditional 21 gun salute in honor of Sheriff Yancey. Other agencies present were the Izard County Sheriff’s Department, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, Sharp County Sheriff’s Department, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, as well as representation from the Highland Police Department, Ash Flat Police Department, Cherokee Village Police Department, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. As many as a dozen police vehicles escorted the funeral procession from the Highland First Assembly of God Church to the Violet Hill Cemetery.

The former sheriff spend much of his adult life in law enforcement. First in the United States Air Force as a security specialists, a deputy in the Izard County Sheriff Department, then as sheriff, and followed by   national law enforcement assignments in the countries of Kosovo and Iraq. In his honor the Air Force provided a flag folding detail for the burial.

Sheriff Tate Lawrence ordered that the flags at the Izard County Sheriff’s Office be flown at half-staff from the time of his death through the funeral in remembrance of Sheriff Yancey who served Izard County from 1995 through 1998.

News Release, For Immediate Release, June 4, 2015, POC: Sheriff Tate Lawrence, 8703684203

Note: Pictures of Pine Bluff Police Department Honor Guard and flags at half-staff provided.