Veteran Northwest Louisiana lawman Vol Sevier Dooley, who capped a four-decade career in public safety with a dozen years as Bossier Parish sheriff, died Monday at age 87 after a lengthy illness.
“Sheriff Dooley committed his life to law enforcement after starting his career as a trooper, then as a deputy and Sheriff and as security for the Port,” current Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington said. “I considered Vol a close friend, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”
A Memphis, Tenn., native, Dooley began his law enforcement career with the Louisiana state police in 1950 at age 23. After four years with Troop G, he joined the Bossier sheriff’s office. Dooley served as chief deputy to Sheriff Willie Waggonner and was appointed to fill the remainder of Waggonner’s term when Waggonner died in 1976. Dooley then went on to win a special election for sheriff later that year, and he served as the chief law enforcement officer for Bossier Parish for 12 years until 1988 after losing a bitterly fought election against Larry Deen.
After leaving office in 1988, Dooley continued service as the security director for Caddo/Bossier Port Commission until his final retirement.
Dooley burst onto local headlines in the 1960s and 1970s during a celebrated round of murder trials for Texas rodeo star Jack Favor, accused in the April 1967 slayings of a Haughton couple. Originally convicted of the slayings, Favor was retried in 1974 and found not guilty when it was established that hitchhikers he had helped actually committed the murders.
“I loved law enforcement,” Dooley told The Times in a 1995 retrospective. “I don’t know if I chose it or it chose me. ... I loved helping people. You'd have children who were being abused. You'd have wives who were being abused. There wasn't a whole lot you could do for them, but you could talk to them. Maybe give them a little money to help them along."
Law enforcement ran in his family. A cousin and uncle served in the Memphis Police Department and two of his sons followed him into public safety work in Shreveport and Bossier City.
He is survived by his widow, Ruth; a daughter, Patsy Netherland; sons, Steve Dooley, Mike Dooley, Autry Brown, Dennis Brown and Ricky Brown. Another son, Vol. S. “Bubba” Dooley III, was murdered in 2001.
Visitation will be Thursday from from 5 to 7 p.m. at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, with funeral services to be at 11 a.m. Friday 0815 at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, followed by burial in the Hillcrest Cemetery Mausoleum in Haughton.
“Sheriff Dooley committed his life to law enforcement after starting his career as a trooper, then as a deputy and Sheriff and as security for the Port,” current Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington said. “I considered Vol a close friend, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”
A Memphis, Tenn., native, Dooley began his law enforcement career with the Louisiana state police in 1950 at age 23. After four years with Troop G, he joined the Bossier sheriff’s office. Dooley served as chief deputy to Sheriff Willie Waggonner and was appointed to fill the remainder of Waggonner’s term when Waggonner died in 1976. Dooley then went on to win a special election for sheriff later that year, and he served as the chief law enforcement officer for Bossier Parish for 12 years until 1988 after losing a bitterly fought election against Larry Deen.
After leaving office in 1988, Dooley continued service as the security director for Caddo/Bossier Port Commission until his final retirement.
Dooley burst onto local headlines in the 1960s and 1970s during a celebrated round of murder trials for Texas rodeo star Jack Favor, accused in the April 1967 slayings of a Haughton couple. Originally convicted of the slayings, Favor was retried in 1974 and found not guilty when it was established that hitchhikers he had helped actually committed the murders.
“I loved law enforcement,” Dooley told The Times in a 1995 retrospective. “I don’t know if I chose it or it chose me. ... I loved helping people. You'd have children who were being abused. You'd have wives who were being abused. There wasn't a whole lot you could do for them, but you could talk to them. Maybe give them a little money to help them along."
Law enforcement ran in his family. A cousin and uncle served in the Memphis Police Department and two of his sons followed him into public safety work in Shreveport and Bossier City.
He is survived by his widow, Ruth; a daughter, Patsy Netherland; sons, Steve Dooley, Mike Dooley, Autry Brown, Dennis Brown and Ricky Brown. Another son, Vol. S. “Bubba” Dooley III, was murdered in 2001.
Visitation will be Thursday from from 5 to 7 p.m. at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, with funeral services to be at 11 a.m. Friday 0815 at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, followed by burial in the Hillcrest Cemetery Mausoleum in Haughton.
Veteran Northwest Louisiana lawman Vol Sevier Dooley, who capped a four-decade career in public safety with a dozen years as Bossier Parish sheriff, died Monday at age 87 after a lengthy illness.
“Sheriff Dooley committed his life to law enforcement after starting his career as a trooper, then as a deputy and Sheriff and as security for the Port,” current Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington said. “I considered Vol a close friend, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”
A Memphis, Tenn., native, Dooley began his law enforcement career with the Louisiana state police in 1950 at age 23. After four years with Troop G, he joined the Bossier sheriff’s office. Dooley served as chief deputy to Sheriff Willie Waggonner and was appointed to fill the remainder of Waggonner’s term when Waggonner died in 1976. Dooley then went on to win a special election for sheriff later that year, and he served as the chief law enforcement officer for Bossier Parish for 12 years until 1988 after losing a bitterly fought election against Larry Deen.
After leaving office in 1988, Dooley continued service as the security director for Caddo/Bossier Port Commission until his final retirement.
Dooley burst onto local headlines in the 1960s and 1970s during a celebrated round of murder trials for Texas rodeo star Jack Favor, accused in the April 1967 slayings of a Haughton couple. Originally convicted of the slayings, Favor was retried in 1974 and found not guilty when it was established that hitchhikers he had helped actually committed the murders.
“I loved law enforcement,” Dooley told The Times in a 1995 retrospective. “I don’t know if I chose it or it chose me. ... I loved helping people. You'd have children who were being abused. You'd have wives who were being abused. There wasn't a whole lot you could do for them, but you could talk to them. Maybe give them a little money to help them along."
Law enforcement ran in his family. A cousin and uncle served in the Memphis Police Department and two of his sons followed him into public safety work in Shreveport and Bossier City.
He is survived by his widow, Ruth; a daughter, Patsy Netherland; sons, Steve Dooley, Mike Dooley, Autry Brown, Dennis Brown and Ricky Brown. Another son, Vol. S. “Bubba” Dooley III, was murdered in 2001.
Visitation will be Thursday from from 5 to 7 p.m. at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, with funeral services to be at 11 a.m. Friday 0815 at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, followed by burial in the Hillcrest Cemetery Mausoleum in Haughton.
“Sheriff Dooley committed his life to law enforcement after starting his career as a trooper, then as a deputy and Sheriff and as security for the Port,” current Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington said. “I considered Vol a close friend, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”
A Memphis, Tenn., native, Dooley began his law enforcement career with the Louisiana state police in 1950 at age 23. After four years with Troop G, he joined the Bossier sheriff’s office. Dooley served as chief deputy to Sheriff Willie Waggonner and was appointed to fill the remainder of Waggonner’s term when Waggonner died in 1976. Dooley then went on to win a special election for sheriff later that year, and he served as the chief law enforcement officer for Bossier Parish for 12 years until 1988 after losing a bitterly fought election against Larry Deen.
After leaving office in 1988, Dooley continued service as the security director for Caddo/Bossier Port Commission until his final retirement.
Dooley burst onto local headlines in the 1960s and 1970s during a celebrated round of murder trials for Texas rodeo star Jack Favor, accused in the April 1967 slayings of a Haughton couple. Originally convicted of the slayings, Favor was retried in 1974 and found not guilty when it was established that hitchhikers he had helped actually committed the murders.
“I loved law enforcement,” Dooley told The Times in a 1995 retrospective. “I don’t know if I chose it or it chose me. ... I loved helping people. You'd have children who were being abused. You'd have wives who were being abused. There wasn't a whole lot you could do for them, but you could talk to them. Maybe give them a little money to help them along."
Law enforcement ran in his family. A cousin and uncle served in the Memphis Police Department and two of his sons followed him into public safety work in Shreveport and Bossier City.
He is survived by his widow, Ruth; a daughter, Patsy Netherland; sons, Steve Dooley, Mike Dooley, Autry Brown, Dennis Brown and Ricky Brown. Another son, Vol. S. “Bubba” Dooley III, was murdered in 2001.
Visitation will be Thursday from from 5 to 7 p.m. at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, with funeral services to be at 11 a.m. Friday 0815 at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, followed by burial in the Hillcrest Cemetery Mausoleum in Haughton.
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