UPDATED: Services Announced For Departed Jail Warden; Commissioners Issue Comments At Meeting

UPDATED: Services Announced For Departed Jail Warden; Commissioners Issue Comments At Meeting
Garry Mumford

SNOW HILL – Worcester County lost a respected and well-liked community leader with the death of Warden Garry Mumford last week.

Many in the audience wiped away tears as the Worcester County Commissioners shared their praise and memories of Mumford during Tuesday’s regular meeting.  Mumford, 57, passed away April 22 after a brief illness.

“Worcester County has lost a friend. Not an employee — a friend,” Commissioner Bud Church said. “I’m going to miss Garry a lot.”

Mumford took over the leadership of the Worcester County Jail in 2011 upon the retirement of Ira “Buck” Shockley. Prior to that, he’d served as assistant warden and worked as an investigator for the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office. He started his career as an investigator for the United States Army after graduating from Salisbury University with a degree in social work in 1981.

“Worcester County is a family,” Commissioner Jim Bunting said Tuesday. “Garry was a leader of that family. We lost a dedicated and respected person and I lost a good friend. He will be missed.”

Mumford was known for his professionalism and dedication to the community. In addition to his position at the jail, Mumford was a former member of the Worcester County Board of Education and served on Atlantic General Hospital’s board of directors.

“One of the greatest assets Garry had is he was a people person,” Commissioner Merrill Lockfaw said, recalling how Mumford had always been quick to ask about his wife when she’d been sick. “He touched many lives.”

Commissioner Diana Purnell said she’d known Mumford as a friend and a mentor. She praised the way he’d done everything with such professionalism.

“He did it and he did it well,” she said.

Commissioner Ted Elder said he hadn’t known Mumford until he was elected but had been impressed by what he saw the past few years.

“I just think God probably needed some department head and looked all over the world and found the very best man,” he said.

Commissioner Chip Bertino praised the way Mumford treated everyone with respect and cared deeply for his employees.

“I don’t think there was anyone who cared more about the people with whom he worked on a daily basis,” Bertino said. “Anytime you were in Garry’s presence you felt as if you were talking to someone who really cared about you and what you had to say. He was a true gentleman.”

Bertino offered his encouragement to the staff at the jail.

“I know the past few days has been difficult,” he said. “I believe strongly Garry will be with you as you go about doing what you need to do for the county.”

Mumford was known to credit his staff for the recognitions that came regularly to the Worcester County Jail. The facility recently received its 14th consecutive achievement award from the Maryland Commission for Correctional Standards.

“The correctional officers at any correctional facility have the awesome responsibility of serving, managing and safeguarding the welfare of inmates each and every day and our officers at the Worcester County Jail do it in such a way that all of us should be proud,” Mumford said in August.

Donna Bounds, assistant warden at the jail, presented the commissioners with a request to purchase pan-tilt-zoom cameras for the jail to go with its new digital video recorders, an initiative Mumford had worked on this spring.

“This is Garry’s project,” she said. “We want to see it finished. Garry was a great friend.”

A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 29, at 1 p.m. at Salisbury University’s Holloway Hall.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.