Relatives remember musician and police officer Jeff Carson

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WTVF) – Friends and family said goodbye Saturday morning to country music singer and Franklin Police Officer Jeff Carson. Last week, Carson suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 58 years old.

A crowd, mostly dressed in blue, gathered at Brentwood Baptist Church to share memories and bid him a final farewell.

“Your brothers and sisters in blue have it from here. Franklin recognizes Officer Jeff Carson number 414 is 10-7 and out of service,” Franklin Police Dispatcher Bob Jarmon said during the traditional last service call.

It was a last call for a man who was always ready to answer for 14 years as a Franklin officer.

“Jeff really was a cop to a cop and he was our homie. Jeff, we will love you forever and we will always miss you,” Franklin Police Chief Deborah Faulkner said. “Wherever he went he made friendships, I think even among the people he arrested they all liked him.”

Fellow officers told the crowd that Carson had the unique ability to tell when someone really needed a laugh, and he always delivered.

“You walk into your office and you pull your chair out from under your desk, you go and sit on it and as soon as you sit down, HONK,” said Sgt. Franklin PD’s Brandon Sandrell.

Sandrell described how Carson once slipped into an Electrolux company meeting just for a free plate of food, and played practical jokes like sticking clothing security tags in jacket pockets.

“Every business you walk into – siren sounds – everyone is looking at you like you stole something,” Sandrell said.

Sandrell also released a montage of parody videos that Carson recorded himself, including one in which he tells his fellow officers, “I just wanted to apologize to my guys in my area who are covering for me while I’m here. , but it takes that long.” Carson said.

Then someone from the store said to Carson, “I told you your car was finished over 2 hours ago.”

If you couldn’t tell already, Carson didn’t just care about the spotlight, he enjoyed it. It makes sense, because before joining the thin blue line, he spent a lot of time on big stages like the Grand Ole Opry and concert halls across the country.

“Jeff had a music career, he was successful; he had his dream, he had everyone in the Nashville dream, and he’s stepping away from it to become a police officer,” said Mike Glenn, senior pastor of the Brentwood Baptist. Church.

In the 1990s, Carson landed 14 country songs on the Billboard charts, including “The Car.” The song suited Carson well, given his deep love for his Chevy Chevelle, a car he bought unseen in Florida.

“Apparently he paid for it and walked across the street to get gas and it wouldn’t start,” said Karen Herndon Spurlock, Carson’s sister.

Naturally, the Chevelle was the first car behind the hearse, as Officer Carson set off on his final journey. Bathed in blue light, as friends and family watched, the Brentwood Baptist procession was a fitting tribute to a man who always answered the call.

“He made us laugh a lot, but he really lived his life in service to others,” Sandrell said.

Carson is survived by his wife Kim Herndon Carson, his son Dayton Grei Herndon Carson, his mother Virgina Herndon Norton, his brother Steve Herndon, his sister Karen Herndon Spurlock as well as aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

Carson was buried at the Williamson Memorial in a private funeral service.