MANNFORD, Okla. — Those who knew Police Chief Lucky Miller are taking his loss hard, but they say they are moving forward by remembering how the officer led his life.
"Everybody here is so close, all the police officers are so close and its affected a lot of people, a lot of people, especially in that police department," said Mannford Mayor Tyler Buttram. "The police department loved the man, absolutely loved the man."
It’s been a tough two days for the Mannford community, for many people, their now late Police Chief Lucky Miller was more than an officer.
"You never passed lucky with out saying “hi” that’s just the kind of person he was and people like that are hard to come by," said Mannford native Colleen Castillo. "There won’t be a day that goes by where we all aren’t thinking of him."
Castillo got to know Chief Miller through community gatherings and service events.
"He just grasped every opportunity to improve our community," said Castillo.
Chief Miller had been with the Mannford Police Department since 2007. The community and city leaders alike attribute Mannford's positive development to Chief Miller.
"He had an amazing way about him for sniffing things out," said Mayor Buttram. "He was able to sniff out drugs like no one we had ever seen before."
"We’ve had wildfires we’ve had tornadoes, we’ve had ice storms, we had the drug issue but he embraced each thing and helped us build, he helped out community build," said Castillo.
Miller is survived by his wife Amber, two sons, and a daughter.
"As much as he loved the city, he loved hunting and fishing with his boys, he just loved his boys," said Mayor Buttram. "I can’t imagine what those wives and kids are feeling right now."
Now community members say they will honor Chief Miller by staying strong.
"Yes this is a tragedy but Lucky would want us to pull together and show the world this is a wonderful community," said Castillo. "We are loving and caring and we will pick up the pieces and move forward for him."
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