Employee Memorial
"IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN, IN HONOR OF THOSE WHO SERVE"
Correctional Officer S.A. Walden
End of Watch: April 20, 1893
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Deputy Warden Willoughby Howard Nelson
End of Watch: July 27, 1894
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Correctional Officer Joseph Lillard (J.L.) Sims
End of Watch: March 12, 1937
Tennessee State Penitentiary
Correctional Officer Glenn E. Johnston
End of Watch: October 22, 1937
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Correctional Officer John C. Armes
End of Watch: May 10, 1940
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Correctional Officer David Stewart
End of Watch: November 26, 1941
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Sergeant Elijah Patrick
End of Watch: November 17, 1947
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Correctional Officer Lem Heflin
End of Watch: June 30, 1949
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Warden Don Crippen
End of Watch: September 12, 1950
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Records Clerk Joe Blevins
End of Watch: November 9, 1952
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Transportation Officer William Lonnie (W.L.) Cox
End of Watch: November 9, 1952
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Transportation Officer Ernest Massengill
End of Watch: December 6, 1957
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Security Officer Elmer Jones Henry
End of Watch: March 30, 1972
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Correctional Officer Robert Burns
End of Watch: February 11, 1978
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Correctional Officer Ronald W. Moore
End of Watch: August 29, 1978
Turney Center Industrial Prison
Warden Donald G. Gammons
End of Watch: July 2, 1984
Turney Center Industrial Prison
Assistant Warden James F. McPeters
End of Watch: July 2, 1984
Turney Center Industrial Prison
Correctional Officer Delbert Steed
End of Watch: January 17, 2002
Hardeman County Correctional Center
Correctional Officer Frederick Gayle Hyatt
End of Watch: November 8, 2003
Charles Bass Correctional Complex
Correctional Officer Wayne Thomas "Cotton" Morgan
End of Watch: August 9, 2005
Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
Correctional Administrator Debra K. Johnson
End of Watch: August 7, 2019
West Tennessee Region
On November 17, 2020, TDOC officially unveiled the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center memorial plaque and signage in honor of Correctional Administrator Debra K. Johnson.
Debra Johnson began her career with the Department of Correction on January 30, 1981 as a correctional officer. She led a distinguished career over her 38 years of service to the people of Tennessee.
Ms. Johnson was an experienced and knowledgeable corrections professional who was positive and supportive with everyone she encountered. Her fellow employees looked to her as a mentor and role model. She was a co-worker, mother, sister, and friend and will be missed more than words can express.
On Thursday, September 23, 2004, several hundred guests were invited to the Tennessee Correction Academy for the unveiling of the Tennessee Department of Correction's memorial to fallen correctional employees.
Guests included family members and descendants of the fallen, current and former employees and other dignitaries who reflected on the importance of the memorial's placement at the academy.
The memorial was funded by private donations totaling over $32,000, from correctional professionals throughout Tennessee. The memorial honors those who lost their lives in the line of duty and those whose daily sacrifices sometimes go unnoticed but whose work helps to keep our communities safe.