HALIFAX COUNTY (WSLS10) - "I will never forget him. He will always be with me," said Cpl. Stanley Britton.
Cpl. Britton was talking about his friendship with Lt. Quentin Clark.
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Lt. Clark, 48, passed away suddenly Saturday morning from a medical condition. Exactly what it was still being determined as of Tuesday.
"He was not just my best friend, he was my brother, my mentor. Clark was my go-to guy," Cpl. Britton said.
Cpl. Britton was also deployed overseas with Lt. Clark.
He carries both his and Lt. Clark's dog tags on a chain and says Lt. Clark did the same.
Cpl. Britton also carries a coin that was given to both of them overseas when Lt. Clark was promoted to Master Sergeant.
"I'd like to thank God first for putting Clark here and allowing him to be a part of my life," Cpl. Britton explained.
Lt. Clark's sudden death has been hard on the entire sheriff's office as well as the community.
"Everybody loved him. He's going to be hard to replace," said Halifax County Sheriff Fred Clark.
"A major shock, yes," said Cpt. Darnell Barksdale. "Why? Because I'm not in the best of shape and Quentin, he was healthy. He was a healthy man."
Cpt. Barksdale said his fondest memory of Lt. Clark is how much he hated the way the K-9s made the inside of the patrol cars smell.
"That's the only thing I can reflect about Quentin, that I love so much about him," Cpt. Barksdale said. "He was a man of his word and he meant the world to me."
Cpt. David Martin remembers him most for his determination to always get the job done.
He talked about a time when he and Quentin responded to a call about a vicious pit bull and Quentin, thinking quickly, used some household items from abandoned house nearby to restrain the dog for animal control.
"They called and said 'hey, thanks for handling that call! Where'd you get that lamp dog catcher pole from,'" Cpt. Martin explained.
Lt. Clark's funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday at Grace Baptist Church in Virgilina. Lt. Clark was also a current member of the Virginia National Guard.
"I'm going to miss him. I love him with all my heart. He meant the world to me," said Cpl. Britton.