Funeral for fallen Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office deputy Austin Aldridge will be Sunday

Bob Montgomery, Herald-Journal
·4 min read

The funeral for fallen Spartanburg County Deputy Austin Derek Aldridge will be at 4 p.m. Sunday at The Church at the Mill, 4455 Anderson Mill Road, in Moore.

The Rev. Bill Morris will officiate. Burial will be in Westwood Memorial Gardens, 6101 Reidville Road, in Moore, with the North Carolina Highway Patrol Honors Team and Caisson.

The funeral and burial will be private services for family, friends and law enforcement.

Aldridge, 25, died Tuesday from a gunshot wound while responding to a domestic disturbance call in Spartanburg County earlier that afternoon. He was born May 20, 1997. He attended Byrnes High School in ninth grade before transferring and graduating from Wren High School in Anderson County. Aldridge played football at both Byrnes and Wren.

Further obituary details were not immediately available. The J. F. Floyd Mortuary in Spartanburg is handling arrangements.

A candlelight vigil is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday in front of the Sheriff's Office.

Meanwhile, tributes to Aldridge continued to be posted on social media Thursday.

In a Facebook post, North Greenville University professor Josh Styles recalled having Austin Aldridge as a student in his introduction to criminal justice class during the spring of 2017.

Deputy Austin Aldridge
Deputy Austin Aldridge

"Every time I've looked at his picture over the past two days, I can see exactly where he sat in our classroom," Styles said. "From my vantage point, on the left side of the classroom against the wall. All I can see is his smile – the same exact smile in his deputy profile."

Styles told the Herald-Journal when looking back through his emails from Aldridge Thursday morning, he came across a short reply to an email he sent to the class.

"I had to cancel class one day when we had a scare with our third daughter. My wife was five months pregnant. And Austin was so quick to reply to check in on my family and to offer his support and prayers," Styles said.

"I only talked to Austin periodically over the past five years, but from what I've heard from many of his classmates and friends over the past two days, this eagerness to care for others defined who Austin was as both a deputy and a person."

More on Spartanburg County Sheriff deputy Austin Aldridge

Styles said Aldridge had all the tools to become a good law officer -- "someone who has a servant's heart, who cares about others and puts other people before themselves."

At a budget press conference in Columbia Wednesday, Gov. Henry McMaster opened with a few words about Deputy Aldridge.

"I spoke with Sheriff Chuck Wright," McMaster said. "(Aldridge) was a fine young man. I ask everyone to keep him, his wife and family in your hearts and prayers.

"Sometimes it's difficult to understand why some of our people get into this dangerous business, but they do to protect us and we have to be thankful for them and appreciated."

Gov. Henry McMaster at press conference Wednesday.
Gov. Henry McMaster at press conference Wednesday.

Chuck McClendon of Florence County, who was a law officer for 24 years and is a concealed weapon instructor, said he didn't know Aldridge or his family personally, but "I still bleed blue."

He posted a photo of Aldridge on his Facebook page, and urged others to stop posting photos of the shooting suspect.

"Any law enforcement officer is my brother or sister," he said. "I've made many friends in the line of duty and it just breaks my heart that the animals that hurt my family are spoken of more than the heroes that paid the ultimate sacrifice."

A GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds for Aldridge's survivors. As of 3:15 pm. Thursday, $94,304 was raised from more than 1,400 donors.

Contact Bob Montgomery at bob.montgomery@shj.com. Please support our coverage of Spartanburg County with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Austin Aldridge funeral set for Sunday: Spartanburg County deputy