Friends and family hold fond memories of deputy

Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Martha Woods Shareef, 53, is remembered as a loving mother, wife, sister, friend and, most of all, a dedicated peace officer to the Lafourche Parish community.

Shareef’s life was cut short last Wednesday when a Houma man reportedly ran a stolen pick-up truck over the deputy following an attempted burglary.

“Martha was such a wonderful person. If anyone needed help, she was always there to lend a helping hand,” said longtime friend Gloria Butler.

Morning Star Baptist Church pastor Thomas Williams said he is going to miss his “go-to parishioner.”

“She was just an outstanding individual,” he said. “She exemplified Christ and she was dedicated to the church and the parishioners.”

Shareef was a 15-year veteran with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office and leaves a husband, Rashid Shareef; daughter, Marsiah Woods (Kevin Jr.) Conner; two sisters, Ida Hunt and Edith Scobey and five brothers, Andrew Woods, Clifton Woods, Edison Woods, Rev. Paul Woods and Warren Woods.

Her older first cousin, Eva Shanklin, said it was a pleasure watching Shareef grow from a little girl to a well-respected individual. The two were sisters in Christ at Morning Star Baptist Church and sisters in the Order of Eastern Star.

“We worshipped together, we sang together and we traveled together,” Shanklin said. “There was not a day that went by that we didn’t talk. If there was something that either of us needed to know we would call one another. We always had a lot to talk about …”

Shareef was well known in the community for her voice. She was often leading the Star Spangled Banner or a Christian hymn at sheriff’s office functions.

“My heart is bleeding right now, but we have to know that it was God’s will, and it’s not for us to question why because is was predestined,” Shanklin said. “She died doing what she did best. She never stopped being a public servant. She died a hero.”

Some of Shareef’s co-workers are still shocked by her tragic death. Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said her passing is a void that will not be filled at the sheriff’s office.

“Martha was a more mature officer,” he said. “She fit well into every environment and situation. She knew her job and she was very confident.”

Webre said for as many years as she was on the job, she was still enthusiastic about her career as a peace officer – a career that started as a rookie patrol officer in 1992. She joined the force just as Webre took command of the sheriff’s office.

In his opinion, Shareef had one advantage over the rest of the deputies that graduated the academy that year. She has public-service oriented experience from her many years as a special education teacher in the Lafourche Parish School System.

“She accepted the challenges of patrol work and got promoted early in her career because she was just that dynamic,” Webre said. “She was a person who had great leadership qualities. She was someone who people looked up to.”

“She knew how to take charge of a situation,” he added.

A few years after joining the sheriff’s office, and with a desire to work with the children in the community, Shareef took a voluntary demotion from the rank of sergeant to go back into the school system in the capacity of a DARE officer.

Fellow DARE officer Sgt. Nolan Smith Jr. said she will always be remembered as a people person. He said if anyone had a problem she would try her best to help.

She later took on the challenge of being school resource officer at the Positive Action School Site, an alterative school in Thibodaux.

“She had a lot of wisdom and she didn’t mind sharing it,” Smith said. “Some people may have taken her for being too strong, but you had to know her to see why she was the way she was. She touched a lot of people and impacted a number of children, giving courage and instilling morals and values that they may not have been getting at home.”

Shareef eventually went back to patrolling the streets.

Her patrol commander, Roy Gros, said she was a typical deputy. Whereas he thought of other rookie patrolmen as his children, Shareef was more like a parent to him because she was such a seasoned officer from the start.

“She had no problem letting you know she was older and wiser,” Gros said. “She was a stickler about organization. She didn’t like anything out of place.”

Gros credits Shareef as being “one of the main reasons we have accreditation. She helped organize all the paperwork needed for us to become a nationally accredited agency.”

Shareef was recently honored as the Lockport Veterans of Foreign War’s Female Deputy of the Year, an accommodation submitted by Gros.

“She was just an exceptional person and she deserved every accolade she has received,” he said. “She was one of a kind.”

A memorial sing-out is scheduled this Friday at Moses Baptist Church to commemorate Shareef’s life. Her body will lie in state from 6 p.m. till the service begins at 8 p.m. Friday.

On Saturday, loved ones will say their final goodbyes at the Thibodaux Civic Center at 11 a.m. Following the service, Shareef’s body will be laid to rest at Morning Star Baptist Cemetery No. 1 in Thibodaux.

In lieu of flowers, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office has set up a memorial fund through the Lafourche Deputies Association. Donations can be sent to Capital One, P.O. Box 1096, Thibodaux, LA 70302.

The registered account is 2081572820.

Williams and Southhall Funeral Services is handling the funeral arrangements.

Veteran deputy Martha Woods Shareef of the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office hands a resident back his car registration and insurance information during a random checkpoint in Thibodaux. Deputy Shareef was killed responding to a possible burglary of a Chackbay convenience store last week. * Photo by the LAFOURCHE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE