Nearly four years after he was shot and killed in the line of duty, Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Hendrix was honored with a bridge named after him at a July 18 ceremony at the Henderson County Sheriff's Office.
The bridge that runs over Interstate 26 on Four Seasons Boulevard will be named the Deputy Ryan P. Hendrix Bridge.
According to previous Times-News reporting, Hendrix was one of three officers who responded to a robbery call on Sept. 10, 2020. The suspect, identified as Robert Ray Doss Jr., made a “rapid movement” and fired at Hendrix. The two other deputies present shot back at Doss, who died at the scene.
Hendrix was 34 years old and was the father to two young children. Hendrix’s mother, Heidi Hendrix, said the bridge naming is a “great honor” for her son.
His father, Don Hendrix, said he is “proud and humble.”
“This is a great honor for him and for people in the future,” Don Hendrix said. “When they pass the sign, you can Google the sign and who the person was and what they’ve done.”
At the July 18 ceremony, Henderson County Sheriff Lowell Griffin spoke of Hendrix’s character.
“I have memories of his larger than life, wide-open personality, his ability to lift the spirits of those around him, memories of his drive to be the best,” Griffin said. “The bridge is a monument of a great man.”
U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards said he had “mixed emotions” when it came to the ceremony.
“It’s a very happy time that we get together, that we have this opportunity to commemorate and celebrate a very sad occasion,” Edwards said. “What an honor it is to be here amongst all the heroes we have serving in law enforcement every single day, taking the same risks Deputy Hendrix did that day.”
In the years since his death, Hendrix has been honored in other ways across Henderson County, in addition to bridge being named after him, according to previous Times-News reporting.
In October 2020, the Henderson County Board of Commissioners voted to rename the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office in honor of Hendrix. On May 14, 2021 the building was renamed the Deputy Ryan P. Hendrix Law Enforcement Center.
In November 2021, Hendrix’s parents, Don and Heidi Hendrix, were formally given his service weapon at a Board of Commissioners meeting. The Fraternal Order of Police also presented the parents with the medal of Supreme Sacrifice.
Last August, commissioners approved a resolution in support of naming the bridge after Hendrix, after a suggestion from Griffin.
In February of this year, the North Carolina Department of Transportation approved the resolution.
Hendrix was born in 1985 in Asheville and graduated from Hendersonville Christian School in 2004. He then enlisted in the United State Marine Corps where he graduated as a lance corporal in 2005. Hendrix served five years in the Marine reserves and volunteered to serve a tour in Iraq in 2006.
He joined the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office in June 2012 as a detention officer, rising through the ranks to become a patrol detective.
According to a resolution announcing the name of the bridge, Hendrix was also an organ donor and helped “countless strangers” after his death.
Karrigan Monk is the reporter for Black Mountain News and Hendersonville Times-News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her atkmonk@blackmountainnews.com.
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