North Myrtle Beach Sgt. Gordon Best laid to rest

By Ruben Lowman

The North Myrtle Beach community paid its final respects to Sgt. Gordon Best last week as the young officer was laid to rest following a police processional and funeral fitting for the real-life hero that he was to so many people. Sgt. Best lost his life serving the community he loved so much early in the morning on New Year’s Day after responding to a domestic dispute call in Barefoot Resort. 

“I want to share with you a glimpse into the final minutes that Sgt. Best had here on this Earth. On New Year’s Day at about 3:48 a.m. North Myrtle Beach Police dispatch received a call from a citizen at the Barefoot Resort community in reference to individuals who were yelling and screaming and fighting. At least two citizens called in shots,” said North Myrtle Beach Chief of Police Tommy Dennis during Best’s funeral at the Alabama Theatre on Friday. “True to his nature, he hopped up out of his seat, he ran out of the police department, ran to his patrol car, and he made his way to Barefoot Resort. He was going there responding with his brothers on his squad.”

North Myrtle Beach Police Chaplain Jay Ortiz began the service by reading a letter from the fallen sergeant’s family expressing their appreciation and gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love and support they have received since their tragic loss. 

“It is with great sadness that we gather today to honor the loss of Sgt. Gordon Best. Sgt. Best, or “Buddy” as his family called him, gave his life in service to the community that he loved so much and the people who he loved even more,” Ortiz said. “It will be with great joy that today we also celebrate his life and his service and his sacrifice to those that he loved, that we celebrate his friends and family, his brothers and sisters in public safety. That we remember Sgt. Gordon Best as a husband, as a father, as a son, as a brother, and as a friend, that we honor him today for what he meant to each one of us and what he gave to his community. He gave it all.”

With heavy rains all throughout the day leaving the roads wet on the night of the accident, Best lost control of his vehicle, swerved into a northbound lane and collided with a utility pole on Highway 17 South. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Sgt. Best was the first police officer in North Myrtle Beach’s history to die while serving. 

“Right now, we really don’t know what caused that car to veer off and leave its intended path, resulting in Sgt. Best’s passing,” Dennis said. “And why, why was someone who was so young and one of the best among us, really, why was he taken from us so soon? We all asked ourselves that and we’ll keep asking ourselves that for as long as we’re here.”

The police chief said that during this difficult time of loss, grief and confusion being experienced by Best’s family and the many people whose lives he touched, there is solace in knowing that his unexplainably tragic death will offer more clarity and meaning one day in the future. 

“I take some comfort in this belief. Much of what happens in this world, it surprises us, it doesn’t surprise God. He’s known it from the beginning, he knows it until the end. We cannot hope to know why tragedies like this happen, however, like many of you I believe that our Father God took Sgt. Gordon Best because he somehow fits into God’s larger plan. I don’t know what that is, but it will be revealed to us one day I imagine. Now, that belief doesn’t make this passing any easier but faith and trust in God, that will help us get through it all.”

“For his squad and everyone who knew him and worked with him, I know you came to know what kind of man he was,” Dennis continued. “This man had the heart of a true leader. He loved and cared so much for you. He had your back, always, probably more than you knew. He was always ready to fight for you and with you. If you needed, he was there.” 

Chief Dennis recounted a story that exemplified the dedication, commitment and humility the new sergeant exhibited throughout his brief but lasting career with the city’s police force. The police department announced it was holding a promotional process for officers looking to move into lieutenant positions within the force. Sgt. Best was eligible for the promotion but felt that he needed a little bit more time as sergeant under his belt before moving up.  

“This man was an extremely intelligent person,” Dennis said. “I was in the parking lot and Sgt. Best came up and said, ‘Chief, what do you think about me testing for the lieutenant position?’ I said do it. We talked for a few minutes. He was concerned that maybe he wasn’t ready for that position and if it would look bad or negative on him if he were to turn it down, if he had earned it but still wanted to decline it just because he felt like he wasn’t ready.”

Dennis told Best that when the time is right he would have plenty of years left in his career to make the move up to lieutenant, and eventually take his position of Chief of Police for the city, such was his talent, character and ambition.

“I’m not telling you all this, and I didn’t tell him this, to make him feel good. I told him because it was the honest truth,” Dennis said. “I think many of the officers who worked with him and family would agree that had his young life not been cut short, everything about this man, his personality, his leadership, his experience, his skills, nothing would have stopped him. I promise you that. But after all, God had a different promotion in mind.”

Both of Sgt. Best’s parents were longtime police officers for the city and he interned with the NMBPD while earning his associate’s degree in criminal justice from Horry-Georgetown Technical College. He married his wife, Taylor, in 2015 and together they have two young sons. He was a shining example of the local boy who wanted to stay home, start a family and have a positive impact on the community he grew up in.   

“He loved to serve his community, he served it so well and he loved it so much. I promise you that. Taylor, Braxton, Blakely, Renee, Gordon, please always your remember that your husband, your father, your son, he was a peacemaker. He left this world a hero. He and his ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten by any of us,” Dennis concluded. 

Orbie Smith, a family friend as well as Best’s third grade teacher at the North Myrtle Beach Elementary School, described how she had spent much of the past week looking over old classroom and field trip photos, student written notes and other memorabilia that included him. She said her heart leapt out of her chest when she came across a photo of the “Graffiti Wall” in her classroom at the end of the year she had Sgt. Best as a student.  

“I carefully read Gordon’s note. It said, ‘You helped me a lot this year. You’re the best teacher I’ve ever had and I’ll always remember you in my heart. Love, Gordon.’ To Gordon today I say dear child you will always have a place in my heart too.”

Smith said that while most teachers will tell you that they don’t really have favorites, they do. Sgt. Best was one of those ideal students that gives teachers the ultimate reward of having had the opportunity to impact on their life.  

“These students are naturally endearing to their teacher and it is difficult not to embrace them. They make your job easier. Gordon was that type of student. He was kind, funny and loved science trips with a passion.”

Smith said that in her class there were a lot of projects that had to be completed outside of the classroom and Best was always honest about when his mom or sister had given him a little help with one of them. He was trustworthy, she said. One day the students were writing stories about what they wanted to be when they grew up when Best provided Smith with lifelong wisdom that has become even more poignant now. 

“When I was reading over the student’s papers one day after class, Gordon had written about being a cowboy when he grew up. And when I gave the papers back the next day I said, ‘Gordon, you’ve always talked about being a policeman one day, so why did you write about being a cowboy yesterday in your story?’ He quickly replied, ‘Ms. Smith, I just read a book about cowboys. It looks like they have a lot more fun than policemen. They get to ride horses and chase cows. But if being a cowboy doesn’t work out, I can always go back to being a policeman.’ So there you go, priority number one, love what you do and have fun doing it. 

Smith recollected that Best stood out for how down-to-earth and funny his haiku poems were, writing about topics like his messy room and not being able to give her any money for her birthday because “kids are always broke.” 

“The year I had Gordon, my mother was very sick and in the latter stages of Parkinson’s disease,” Smith remembered. “On the day that I had received the phone call that she had been transported to the hospital I stood by my door trying not to let the kids see me, but tears streamed down my face. I felt a little hand take mine. It was Gordon. He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.’ That was the kind of person he was. He was always the kind of person who would step up and take care of someone sad, hurt or afraid.”

Smith held back tears as she said, “It’s been a privilege to have known you Gordon. While today is a sad day in so many ways, we can be grateful for who Gordon was and what he meant to everyone who loved him. For the fact that his life, though short, was a good and happy life, and the memories of him are always going to be good and warm.”  

Sgt. Carrie Rose honored his dedication and commitment to the police force, saying that he had a keen attention to detail and that his lengthy reports would sometimes find him working late in order to finish them. In 2015, after Gordon’s first year on patrol, Rose challenged Gordon to list three professional goals which he hoped to achieve. He was aware that he had a lot to learn, she said, so his first two goals were to accept advance training and develop a specific career path. 

“His final goal was to be more involved in community service as he saw a benefit in education over enforcement while policing. He wrote, ‘Law enforcement is constantly being displayed in a negative light and public opinion of our chosen profession is way down. I would love to somehow be a part of bridging the gap between law enforcement and the people who we serve.’

Rose described Best as a community officer, someone who was not driven by the amount of stops or arrests he made but by giving his service to his community and making community contacts.

“As his police career was underway Gordon’s personal life brought him the true joy and passion of his life. If you have spent anytime at all with Gordon you know how much he loved his wife. It was clear the driving purpose of his life was Taylor’s happiness,” Rose said.

“Gordon was thoughtful in his romantic gestures for his wife and strived to make her life as enjoyable as possible as he was away from home half the nights working. He made sure she had breakfast in bed every morning. Taylor told me the other day Gordon had written her beautifully-worded love letters. It’s clear Taylor was our local Disney princess who won her Prince Charming, who happened to wear a North Myrtle Beach police uniform.”

After working for the city’s police force for about five years, Rose said that Best thought he was ready to take a stab at a leadership position and took part in promotional testing for sergeant nearly two years ago. 

“It was no surprise to me he scored high on the candidate list and was immediately assigned to the sergeant position,” Rose said. He was shown the ropes and after a few weeks was given his own squadron, where he was the highest ranking officer on his duty nights. 

“That is a lot of responsibility to be given. Gordon took the ball and ran with it. He used his resources well and led his men with confidence. He did quality work, made good decisions and went home when he was done. Last Friday, home became heaven and Gordon’s new beat patrol. I don’t know why he was called to serve. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not fair,” Rose said. “But we have to keep trusting God. He’s always in control, even when the circumstances are out of control. Our fallen brother in blue will always have our back and I find comfort in knowing we have such a good guy watching over all of us.” 

Lt. Dana Crowell said that she and Best shared a love for policing, Jesus, their quaint hometown of Loris and his mother Renee. Being his mother’s friend, she heard many “Buddy” stories as he grew up and she followed his successes in high school. She said it was no surprise that the “legacy kid” chose his college internship in North Myrtle Beach and she sat on his interview board to become a police officer.

“Gordon was young, he hadn’t experienced a lot of adversity and he didn’t have a whole lot of life experience,” Crowell said. “But he was charismatic, he was full of life and he was a little bit cocky. We decided, ‘What the heck? Let’s give him a chance to prove himself. 

Crowell said that even though he would go on to accomplish many great things within the police department and would have been the future of the agency “it was never Gordon the police officer that impressed me the most, it was Gordon the husband, the father, the son and the friend that did.” 

Over the past week, Crowell said she has reflected on all the ways “that Gordon was blessed and how blessed I and we all are to have known him. Gordon was young but he was a man who had his priorities in order. In all the conversations we ever had, I can’t remember in detail what we talked about that was work-related, but I can remember how almost every conversation would end with Gordon gushing about his family. Every aspect of his life was intertwined with his deep life for Taylor, Braxton, Blakeley and his desire to make them happy and provide a beautiful life for them.”

“You never had to talk to Gordon very long before you realized young Gordon had done something many of us, particularly those of us in law enforcement, are rarely able to accomplish. He had found the sweet spot in life. He had struck that near perfect balance between being a successful public servant, a child of God, an adoring husband, a dedicated, devoted father, a loving son, brother and son-in-law, and a dependable friend and co-worker,” Crowell said. “He lived with a sense of purpose and destiny that just seemed to propel him in the right direction. His sense of happiness and fulfillment exuded him and, man, did he live with such a grateful heart.”

“I cannot think of a better way to honor him than to choose to live life the way he did,” Crowell said.