DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. – The parents of the DeSoto County deputy who died last year after saving his son opened their home Thursday to his former friends and colleagues.
For 12 hours, tributes came pouring in for Deputy Williams Nichols, a 16-year DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office veteran who served as director of the Search and Rescue unit.
In July 2020 while on a family vacation in Florida, Nichols’ 10-year-old had been swept out by a powerful current. Nichols managed to save his son, but ultimately died himself.
Throughout the day, those who knew him wrote messages on rocks that were part of a rock garden he had given his mother.
They also shared memories and enjoyed Nichols’ favorite foods.
“It’s been a hard thing but we take a lot of solace in the fact that he died saving our grandson and we’re proud of him for that,” said Nichols’ father Keith.
Among those at Thursday’s memorial was the Florida deputy who tried in vain to save Nichols.
“The thin blue line is a brother and sisterhood, so it is family and you never want to lose anybody and especially if you wish that you could have been there sooner,” said Deputy Mellie Roberts with the Walton County, Florida Sheriff’s Office. “It makes me feel good that our son was loved,” said Keith Nichols.
