Former Brazos County Sheriff to be remembered at memorial service 100 years after his death

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – At the end of March, members of the Brazos County community will gather to remember Brazos County Sheriff Leonard Morehead.

A memorial service is being held to mark the 100th anniversary of his passing. He was tragically killed during a magic show in 1924.

Vicki Smith-Dicky, the wife of current Sheriff Wayne Dicky, joined News 3 at Six Tuesday to talk about the memorial service.

“This event will share his story. His story is remarkable,” Smith-Dicky said. “We will just hear his story of the sacrifice he made while wearing the badge. He was elected sheriff in 1918 and was running for his fourth term in office when he died. At that time elections were held every two years for that office.”

Smith-Dicky has researched Sheriff Morehead for a few years. She recently found a picture of him after looking for three years.

“I was able to find a lot of stuff through newspaper archives. Our local library had publications. But probably the jewel for me was visiting with his descendants,” Smith-Dicky said. “He has descendants here in our community and I made contact with his one remaining granddaughter who found a picture in a box in her house. We were just celebrating that we all found it.”

Along with researching Sheriff Morehead, Smith-Dicky also researched his wife who took over his term in office after he passed. She served nine months and one day.

Lila Belle Morehead was just the second female sheriff to serve in Texas. There still hasn’t been another female sheriff in Brazos County since then.

“You think about this, this was 1924, women just received the right to vote just a few years prior, and here we had a lady wearing the badge protecting our community,” Smith-Dicky said. “Hearing stories about her. She lived to be 86 years old. So I have heard wonderful stories from her granddaughter [and] many of the great nephews of Mr. And Mrs. Morehead that live here in this community.”

Smith-Dicky says the event will be about remembering both Leonard and Lila Belle Morehead.

“The sheriff’s office will be involved in it to make it special but I just really encourage people to come out and listen to this to honor him. Nobody will leave disappointed that they came.”

The event is March 29 at 10 a.m. at the Bryan City Cemetery. It’s recommended you get there a little early.

“From the very beginning when I started giving presentations on the sheriff research that I’ve done, I’ve always asked people ‘who here has heard about Sheriff Morehead,’ and I hardly ever see hands go up in the air. So my goal is in the future when I give this presentation people will raise their hand saying ‘Yes, I know him. I know his sacrifice, and I know about his wife as well.’”