Thomas Fortenberry

On November 14, 2023, at age 68, Thomas Fortenberry became the oldest person in Louisiana to graduate from a police academy. 

“I just always wanted to be able to give back to my community,” he says. “I had too much in me to retire.”

He approached the academy with a give-me-no-slack attitude. He didn’t ask for favors. He didn’t want to be treated differently because of his age. He was treated as a regular recruit. And to commemorate completion of the of program, he led the class in 68 push-ups (one for each of his years) and a 1.5-mile run.  

At 68, he brought a lifetime of experience to his job. A Marine. A professional boxer. Founder and owner of an interstate trucking company. A police officer in Mississippi and then a city mayor. Now as a Sheriff’s department chaplain in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, he helps officers and inmates alike.

Thomas says officers have seen things few people should. 

And the inmates? He says they don’t owe him anything. They might owe time to the state, but they don’t owe him anything. In his younger years, Thomas worked with at-risk youth – kids that felt thrown away by society. He brings that understanding to the inmates he sees now. “They’re not throw-away people,” he says. “There’s a chance, you know.” 

Thomas Fortenberry returned to law enforcement to make a difference.  “I don’t want what I do to be measured by the number of arrests,” he says. “I want it to be measured by what I’ve done to give back to the community.”

We are re proud to honor Officer Fortenberry as a Peoples Health Champion. Because that’s what he is: a true Champion.