Former La Plata County Sheriff Sydney “Duke” Schirard died Dec. 11 after struggling with a staph infection. He was 80 years old.

Schirard, a Bayfield resident, served five terms as sheriff. He was first elected in 1994 and won re-election four times until 2014, when he lost to current La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith.

Born in Florida, Schirard decided to move to Colorado after taking a hunting trip near Pagosa Springs in the late 1960s.

“He came out and basically fell in love with the area” said Schirard’s son, James “Jardi” Schirard. “When he went back to Florida after the hunt, he pulled up to the house and told my mother, ‘Pack everything up if you want to go with me, I’m going to Colorado.’”

According to the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, Schirard’s 20 years of service as sheriff make him the longest-serving sheriff in the agency since it was founded in 1871.

“He understood how important the Sheriff’s Office was,” said former La Plata County commissioner and state Rep. J. Paul Brown. “He was tough on crime, and we had a good county under him.”

Brown said he was not on the La Plata Board of County Commissioners when Schirard was sheriff, but he helped Schirard campaign for the position.

“I always supported him. We didn’t hang out together or anything, but we were good friends.” Brown said. “I’m sure sorry for his loss.”

Schirard’s first stint with the Sheriff’s Office was as a deputy from 1974 to 1979. During that time, he worked as an undersheriff for then-Sheriff Denny Schilthuis. Schirard was even the acting sheriff for a brief period when Schilthuis stepped down before the end of his term.

Schirard also spent time working for the Durango Police Department and was the Bayfield marshal before being elected sheriff.

In the 1960s, Schirard served in the U.S. Army in Germany, before returning home and starting his law enforcement career.

Deputies who worked under Schirard during his time as sheriff said that what stood out the most about him was how much he cared about his deputies.

“He was a very fair person, and a very good person to work for. He cared a lot about his employees and the community,” said Sheriff’s Office Administrative Sgt. David Griggs.

Griggs said he worked for Schirard for about 25 years and served as undersheriff during Schirard’s final term as sheriff.

“He was a little gruff, but I think that was just a front,” Griggs said. “He was one of those people that would give you the shirt off his back. Anytime that someone was in need, he would be one of the first to step up.”

Some of Griggs’ best memories of working for Schirard come from the Missionary Ridge Fire in 2002. Griggs said that during the fire, it was admirable how dedicated Schirard was to assisting community members and fire crews.

“He was there day in and day out with the incident commander,” Griggs said. “It seemed like it was a month, but it was really more like two weeks when he and I and the command staff were out from sunlight to sundown making sure people were safe.”

Capt. Charles Hamby with the Southern Ute Rangers worked with Schirard for a number of years, and said the late sheriff was hardworking, honest and one of the best people he’s ever worked for.

“Working for him, you knew that he cared about his guys,” Hamby said. “It was one of those situations for me where I wanted to do the best job I could for him. He was one of those kinds of people you wanted to do your best because of who you worked for.”

Hamby said one memory of Schirard that sticks out in his mind is the day after Schirard lost the election for sheriff in 2014.

“He called me in his office and apologized,” Hamby said. “I said, ‘Apologize, what for?’ I told him he’d been a very good sheriff to me and (said) ‘Sheriff, you owe me nothing.’ I wasn’t the only one, he cared about the people he supervised and he wanted to make sure we were going to be OK.”

Jardi Schirard said Schirard felt one of his biggest achievements in his 43-year law enforcement career was that he never had to kill anyone.

“He was extremely proud that he never had to take anybody’s life, which being a cop that long is kind of unheard of,” Jardi said.

During Schirard’s time as sheriff, there were no unsolved attempted murder cases or assault with a deadly weapon cases. His office closed about 70% of felony cases that happened on his watch.

Jardi said his father was happy to see the Dylan Redwine murder case come to a close earlier this year.

Since Schirard’s retirement in 2014, Jardi said his father spent his time horseback riding, hunting and collecting firearms.

Jardi said his father’s death has been tough. He said he and his dad had a strong relationship, and even at 50 years old, he would turn to Schirard for advice.

“We had a very open and friendly relationship,” Jardi said. “We could give each other just as much of a hard time, but neither one of us ever took it personal. We could be screaming at each other one minute and just laughing at each other the next.”

Schirard is survived by two former wives, two sons, four stepchildren and three grandchildren by his oldest son.

njohnson@durangoherald.com