‘Long-fought battle with COVID’ ends as SC police employee dies, department says

The Irmo Police Department is mourning an employee who died of COVID-19.

“It is with profound sadness that we inform you of the passing of Irmo Police Chaplain Billie Bright,” police said Sunday on Facebook. “His long-fought battle with COVID came to an end overnight.”

The 46-year-old died Sunday, according to his obituary. Bright previously worked for the Columbia Fire Department from 1998-2010, according to Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins.

Bright had worked as chaplain for Irmo police since August 2020, according to the department. He was appointed by former Police Chief Courtney Dennis, who was recently named Town Administrator.

“One of my proudest days was when I asked him to join our team. I knew that he would impact each of us in some way,” Dennis said in the Facebook post. “Billie’s smile and laughter were contagious and was always uplifting and left you feeling better when he was around.”

Bobby Dale, the current Irmo Police Chief, said Bright’s death is especially difficult because of the role the chaplain played as the coronavirus has surged.

“There was no such thing as a stranger to Billie,” Dale said on Facebook. “And in this line of work, we were fortunate to have such a person like Billie for our police officers and the community to rely upon during a world pandemic.”

A funeral service for Bright will be on Friday at 1 p.m. at Second Nazareth Baptist Church on Elmwood Avenue in Columbia. Following the service, Bright will be buried at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.

The police department said its “thoughts and prayers” are with Bright’s family, and also thanked the community for the support the department has received as it mourns the chaplain.

“Our staff will truly miss Billie as we grieve his loss,” police said.

In his time with the Columbia Fire Department, Bright served as a firefighter, senior firefighter, fire engineer, and fire captain, according to Jenkins. After retiring in 2010, Bright was named chaplain for the fire department.

“As our Chaplain he worked tirelessly to provide spiritual and emotional support to our firefighters and members of our community during their darkest hours,” Jenkins said. “We thank Chaplain Bright for his service to our department and our community. May he find comfort, peace and rest knowing that what he did for all of us will leave an impression in our hearts, that can never be removed.”

The Officer Down Memorial Page reported that at least 154 law enforcement officers in the U.S. have died of COVID-19 in 2021. That is by far the most common cause of in-the-line-of-duty deaths, nearly four times the number of officers killed in shootings (39), according to the website.

In the beginning of 2021, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department suffered its first active duty death because of COVID-19 when Terry Joel Barrett, an investigator turned chaplain in the department, died of coronavirus complications, Sheriff Leon Lott said.

In two days at the end of August, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department reported the deaths of two employees. Gwen Morris, a 50-year-old working in the finance department, and Blaine Newman, a 60-year-old reserve deputy, died of COVID-19.

In July 2020, a 35-year veteran of the Columbia Police Department died of complications from COVID-19. Master Police Officer Robert J. “Bob” Hall was 57 when died a little more than a week after he began receiving treatment for the coronavirus.

South Carolina has reported more than 784,000 (confirmed and probable) cases of the coronavirus and 11,149 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 9:29 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

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Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription