Golf tournament held in Quinn's honor

By Josh Lanier
jlanier@independenttribune.com

It’s been two years since the death of Concord Police officer Quinn Witherspoon, but he’s still making contributions to the community he served.

Concord Police officers held a memorial golf tournament in his honor Friday at the Warrior Golf Course in China Grove to raise money for the Quinn Witherspoon Memorial Fund, which gives money to the children of officers killed in the line of duty.

Sixty-three golfers participated and the group expects to raise nearly $8,000 for the fund. Twenty-eight companies sponsored the holes and donated door prizes and gifts for the officers.

“Quinn was one of those guys that you couldn’t forget,” Concord Sgt. A.T. Rankin said. “He made an impression on everyone he met. He was just a really great guy that I can’t say enough good things about.”

The fund began five weeks after his September 2005 death with a memorial motorcycle ride that raised $14,000 for Witherspoon’s three children, all under the age of 10. Another motorcycle ride for his children was held a year later. The group decided to expand the fund in August for any child of a Cabarrus County police officer killed in the line of duty or who dies in an “untimely manner.”

“After his death, I had so many calls of people just saying, ‘we have to do something, we have to do something,’” said President of the Witherspoon Memorial Fund, Dana Nancy. “This fund is so important to help those families who are dealing with so much.”

Witherspoon was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head, inflicted by his wife, Misty Witherspoon, as he slept on his couch at his Mooresville home in September 2005. She was convicted of the murder in July and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole in a Raleigh prison.

“We’re not here to really dwell on the way he died,” Rankin said. “We’re here to celebrate the way he lived as a model police officer, a truly great man and someone who you knew you could count on if you needed it … He would be out here doing the same thing for one of us if he were still here.”

Witherspoon served 11 years as a Concord police officer before his death, eight of which with his trusty K-9 partner, Tank. Nearly every officer in Concord has a fond memory of him.

“He would have done anything for you without asking,” Concord Police officer Matt Greer said before teeing off. “I think this fund and tournament is such a great idea; it’s something that he would have done if he were still with us.”

Concord Sgt. Brian Kennerly spearheaded the initiative for the golf tournament.

“We really just wanted to expand the fund and raise as much money for the fund as possible,” he said. “It’s so important that we expand on the positive things he did with his life and this fund is a great way to do that.”

Kennerly said that tournament was a success and he hopes to continue it next year. Other ideas are another memorial motorcycle ride, a fishing tournament and a shooting tournament.

“To be out here having fun for such a good cause is such a great feeling,” Kennerly said. “It’s something Quinn would have done, absolutely.”

To find out more information about the Quinn Witherspoon Memorial Fund, visit http://www.witherspoonmemorialfund.com/