Genesee County Sheriff William A. Sheron Jr., right, accepts his badge from Undersheriff Brad Mazur, left, and Sheriff-Elect Joseph Graff during Thursday night’s retirement party at Terry Hills Restaurant. (Photos by Mike Pettinella)
By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
One by one they came up to the podium – sharing stories, presenting proclamations and plaques, and saying, “Congratulations, Bill” to Genesee County Sheriff William A. Sheron Jr., who will be retiring effective Dec. 31 after 47½ years of public service.
About 180 people, including colleagues, county leaders, friends and, of course, family, gathered at Terry Hills Restaurant on Thursday night to honor Sheron, a Batavia native who rose through the ranks to become a highly respected sheriff at the local, state and national levels.
Sheron joined the workforce as a teenager at Peter’s Delicatessen on West Main Street, just down the street and around the corner from his Vernon Avenue home. At the age of 18, he was hired by the Sheriff’s Office as a dispatcher, the first step of a long career at the agency.
He moved up to other positions – jail deputy, road patrol deputy and sergeant (at the age of 26) — before earning promotions to investigator and chief deputy. He served as undersheriff to Sheriff Gary Maha from 1996-2016, before being elected sheriff in 2016.
Shari and Bill Sheron acknowledge applause from the 180 people in attendance.
After more than an hour of listening to accolades from his admirers, Sheron took the microphone. He spoke not about himself, but about the agency’s staff.
“One thing I always admired was the dedication of the employees, just wanting to do a good job for our communities,” he said.
He mentioned starting at age 18.
“There are many of you, who are older than me, that really helped raise me,” he said. “Really, it has been a terrific career. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Most of all, I’d like to thank my family. My wife, Shari, has been right there by my side.”
Sheron then rattled off the names of his children, their spouses and grandchildren.
“My family comes first; I tell everybody that,” he said. “And you (co-workers) are my second family.”
(Bill and his daughter, Marissa, share an emotional moment)
The guest of honor is surrounded by his family following the festivities.
Prior to Sheron thanking those who organized the tribute, his wife, Shari, proposed a toast to her husband.
“After many years of hard work and dedication to the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, you have finally reached this well-deserved milestone,” she said. “Though duty calls 24/7, you always were there for me and our family – and we are so very proud. As the page turns to the next chapter, I look forward to being by your side.”
Earlier, Sheron’s stepdaughter, Katie Cosimeno, at the podium with her sister, Lacie, and stepsister, Marissa, recalled how reassuring it was growing up knowing that her stepdad was by their side.
Katie said that she found it hard to sleep at night as a child until she heard Sheron pull into the driveway in his patrol car after working the second shift.
“I could never fall asleep until I heard his patrol car pull up in the driveway,” she said. “He’d get out of his uniform. We never really saw him in the uniform a lot, but when he did, it was always a comforting feeling to know that I could fall asleep now.
“Superman’s here. I feel safe. It was always just nice knowing he was always our safety net in our family.”
Other presenters and speakers were as follows:
Brian Gould, president of the FBI National Academy Associates New York State/Eastern Canada Chapter: Before presenting Sheron with a certificate from the organization (of which Sheron is a past president and secretary-treasurer), Gould said, “When you speak about dedication to our profession in law enforcement, graduating from the national academy is a highlight of all of our careers.”
He said participants in the program spent 10 weeks in Quantico, Va., “not only learning what it takes to be a great leader in this profession but also creating friendships and relationships across the country that help us perform the duties to our citizens that we needed.”
Alex Wilson presents a plaque from the New York State Sheriff’s Association to Sheron, a trustee of the organization
Alex Wilson, associate counsel of the New York State Sheriff’s Association: Noting that Sheron serves as a trustee of the NYSSA, Wilson said he’s come to Batavia “to say farewell to him and farewell to the wisdom and expertise that he’s graced us with for many years and the tutelage he’s been able to give to other sheriffs coming up through the ranks.
He then presented a plaque signifying that Sheron has been elected as a lifetime member of the association.
Sheron giving credit to Genesee County legislators Gary Maha, a former Genesee County sheriff, and Rochelle Stein, legislature chair.
Rochelle Stein, Genesee County Legislature chair: “At first, he took up a badge and then he took the mantle, and he has carried that for us – and it’s not an easy weight. His department makes up quite a bit of our government organization, and the public service and the public safety that he has to carry is absolutely monumental. So, thank you. That weighs on his heart, that weighs on his health, and those are two things that we know in retirement, that will become a little lighter for you. And for that we are truly grateful.”
Stein said Sheron prioritized “bringing kids to the forefront” and dedicated himself to putting a resource officer (law enforcement personnel) in every school in the county.
She then mentioned a phone call she received from Sheron the day that the last school bought into the program. (Sheron said): “We got them all. All of our kids in Genesee … are going to be safe.”
Stein then read a portion of a proclamation signed by all members of the legislature.
Robert Bialkowski, left, and Eugene Jankowski Jr., representing the Batavia City Council, extend their well-wishes to Bill Sheron after presenting him with a proclamation recognizing his lengthy public service.
Assemblyman Stephen Hawley mixes it up with the audience before honoring Sheron with an official legislative citation
Assemblyman Stephen Hawley: “We’ve known each other for about 25 years or so and I’ve grown to respect him an awful lot for not only his expertise in law enforcement and community service and as a good friend.”
He then read from a New York Assembly citation in Sheron’s honor, mentioning Sheron’s role on the county drug task force, for implementing the school resource officer program throughout Genesee County, starting a sheriff’s office Teen Academy and overseeing this year’s construction of the new county jail on West Main Street Road.
Karen Maskell, former Genesee County Sheriff’s Office employee: Speaking from the floor, Maskell remembers the day Sheron came the sheriff’s office for his job interview – June 4, 1977, a month before his 19th birthday.
“He’s old now; look how long he’s been there,” she said, prompting laughter from the crowd. “He’s done so much for the community and I’m really happy for him.”
Tim Hens, Genesee County highway superintendent/engineer: Hens recounted an extreme weather emergency situation in the Oakfield-Alabama area on Dec. 23, 2022, and getting a phone call from Sheron around 8 that evening:
“I can hear his voice cracking, and he says, ‘You gotta get the highway guys out there with whatever equipment you got; people are going to die.’”
Hens said he immediately mobilized his crew and responded to the call.
“I think a lot to do with the sheriff’s office – and he had his own guys trapped in the storm that night,” he said. “Because of the sheriff, nobody in Genesee County, none of our visitors or travelers died that night. And that storm killed 47 people in Erie County, and we had zero in Genesee County. You could say that’s up to Bill.”
Barry Garigen, former Genesee County undersheriff: Garigen talked about leaving the agency for a position and Genesee Community College and recommending to then Sheriff Maha that Sheron would make a fine undersheriff.
He said he told Sheron that “there are good days and bad days as the undersheriff, and lo and behold, he spent 21 years (in that position).”
Garigen also credited Sheron for selecting Brad Mazur as his undersheriff, a post that Mazur is continuing to fill under Sheriff-Elect Joseph Graff.
Undersheriff Brad Mazur: Mazur talked briefly about his six years working for Sheron and the increasingly difficult challenges faced by law enforcement.
Speaking to other retirees in the audience, Mazur said, “When I retire, when I get to be their age, when I look back on my career and somebody asks me what it was like to work with Sheriff Sheron, the first thing I’m going to think of is perseverance.”
“There are so many times that I think to myself, ‘How does he do it?’ I don’t know how he does it. But he did it.”
Chief Deputy Brian Frieday: Frieday reflected on the responsibilities of sheriff’s deputies and the “open door” policy afforded by Sheron to all the rank-and-file working at the department.
He also said he holds on to an expression used by Sheron: “You don’t know until you know.”
Sheron and former Deputy Gary Russell, who generated a lot of laughs with his stories about their time on the drug task force.
Former Deputy Gary Russell, who now resides in Florida, attended, much to Sheron’s surprise, and spent about 13 minutes sharing stories of his time on the drug task force with Sheron.
He emphasized the creative methods used by Sheron while executing busts, including wearing “a really bad wig, with hair past his shoulders” for some undercover work.
“I told Bill, you look ridiculous,” he said. “You’ll get us killed.”
Russell said Sheron wore the wig during a “drug deal” in another county, first as a passenger in the car and minutes later, entering the suspect’s home with it on. They eventually completed the assignment, Russell said, but not before some anxious moments on his part.
On another occasion, Russell said that Sheron was supposed to come to a subject’s door on a certain verbal cue from Russell, but he missed the signal and was several seconds late.
“Finally, I hear this noise and here comes Bill running, and he loses his footing and falls in the guy’s front yard. He then does this tremendous acrobatic roll. Before I know it, he’s back on his feet and I look at the bad guy, and he’s looking in amazement at what he just saw,” Russell said.
Everything ended up well in this case, too, Russell said, but not before Bill ended up running into a wall inside the house.
Current and former high-ranking officials of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, from left, Gordon Dibble, Barry Garigen, Gary Maha, William Sheron, Joseph Graff, Brad Mazur and Brian Frieday.