Part of S.R. 19 to be named in honor of sheriff who died in ’06
TAVARES — A stretch of State Road 19 will be dedicated next week in honor of the late Lake County Sheriff Chris Daniels, who was killed almost 12 years ago in a charity bus-race accident at New Smyrna Speedway.
The nearly 3-mile portion of the highway from Lane Park Cutoff to U.S. Highway 441 will be designated the “Sheriff Chris Daniels Memorial Highway,” the result of a legislative push by state Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, and state Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.
The north end of the segment is near the Chris Daniels Memorial Fountain, at the city’s gateway, named by Tavares officials less than a year after Daniels died Oct. 14, 2006, his 47th birthday.
The dedication is set for 2 p.m. June 27 at Lake Technical College’s Institute of Public Safety, 1565 Lane Park Cutoff. Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell will be among the speakers.
Metz, in a news release, called Daniels “an authentic servant leader whose legacy of exemplary public service ended tragically...” The memorial highway “will ensure that his service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” he said.
Baxley said the memorial keeps Daniels “ever in our memory and may it encourage his family to know we honor him.”
Daniels had been sheriff for two years, following 17 years as a Lake County deputy sheriff, before he was thrown from the bus he was driving in the competition against other law-enforcement officers and run over.
The public is invited to attend the ceremony.