“If it’s time for me to go home, I’m going. If it’s time to go, then I’m excited.” Those were the words of Mike Pruitt in a conversation 11 months ago. Mike went home Saturday morning.

Capt. Michael D. Pruitt served a total of 27 years at the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, the final one battling kidney and lung cancers.

The three-time sheriff’s Medal of Merit winner served for years as head of the sheriff’s Drug Task Force (DTF). Prior to working with Sheriff Randall Johnson, Pruitt served as a special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The list of DTF accomplishments under Pruitt’s command is staggering. DTF to date has seized more than $34 million in cash, arrested 1,623 felons, executed more than 500 searches, seized more than 5,300 pounds of cocaine, more than 37,000 pounds and 9,000 plants of marijuana, 961 pounds of methamphetamine and confiscated 228 weapons.

It was little more than a year ago that Pruitt discovered a large tumor on one of his kidneys, then later, smaller tumors in his lungs. Doctors gave him anywhere between a few weeks to a couple of months to live.

But a resilient Mike Pruitt was back at work by spring, surrounded in his office at DTF by posters of Bear Bryant and a wealth of Alabama Crimson Tide memorabilia.

Mike beat the odds, outlasting the projections of doctors for nearly a year. Yet, his inevitable passing last weekend has left those close to him with a void in their hearts.

Pruitt was the type of man that made an impression and left an impression, friends and colleagues said. He mixed humor, excitement and a high degree of animation with his command responsibilities. And he took those responsibilities very seriously. He possessed an extreme loyalty to the undercover agents and the risky job they perform.

On many past occasions, sitting at his desk or along the side of the road, Pruitt spoke of the real danger agents were exposed to as they did their job. Unlike most types of work, the work of an undercover agent is one that sometimes carries little assurance that you will be alive to go home to your family at the end of the day.

There was a definitive difference in the DTF office Monday, as anyone who knows them would expect. An office always full of serious work combined with practical jokes had gone somber.

So what is the measure of a man? It is a question that is often contemplated with the passing of a friend. In the words of DTF Lt. Jody Thomas, it is in the friendships he builds along the way in his life and his willingness to stay true to himself and his beliefs. This is Mike Pruitt, Thomas said.

“What makes us most successful is the relationship with each other. And he taught us that. He balanced friendship with being a supervisor and a leader,” Thomas said Monday. “Nothing can describe the relationship in a narcotics unit. We are bonded as officers and as friends. He taught us that.”

Thomas described the scene on the first day Pruitt arrived to take command at DTF. Always a character and a cut-up, Pruitt laid out DTF’s course for the future.

“’Boys, get ready to work. We’re going to make a splash,’” Thomas recalled, smiling because the idea of making a splash was a part of Pruitt’s nature and his persona. “Mike started DTF, he built it and rebuilt it. He made DTF.”

Agents in the DTF office Monday added their thoughts about the man who had led them. Their names cannot be used due to the nature of their work.

“From a law enforcement and personal perspective, he made a difference. It was immeasurable,” one agent said.

Other agents around the room noted the difficulty in finding the words to describe someone of Pruitt’s caliber. He was a good man, said one. Like in the Frank Sinatra song, he did it his way, said another.

“He was one of the best supervisors you could work for,” said still another agent. “He was stern, but he cared. He really cared.”

Sitting in his office Monday, Sheriff Randall Johnson spoke of Pruitt. The two used to cut-up with each other, something that fit the bill of Pruitt’s playful personality. Johnson then spoke of the standards Pruitt held and the impact he had on those around him.

“Mike did a great job for me. He kept the men motivated and he got along well with the other (local, state and federal) drug agencies. The other agencies respected him,” Johnson said solemnly. “He did a lot of good against drug trafficking. For so many reasons, he going to be missed. I can’t imagine him being gone.”

As that reality sank in, long-time friend and DTF partner Jody Thomas also reflected on Pruitt’s final days. Pruitt’s concerns were not for himself.

“His last concerns were his family and this unit,” Thomas said.

Pruitt was also a man willing to examine his own mortality, willing to acknowledge the truly important aspects of life.

“I’m a very blessed man,” Pruitt said in January, only weeks after the diagnosis. His eyes glowed, not from some unconscious denial of the gravity of his circumstances, but more from a peace that passes all understanding. It is a peace, he believed, that some might be wise to acknowledge.

“I’ve got friends I didn’t even know I had. I have a wonderful wife, children and grandchildren. And I have my Lord, who sustains me every day. What more could I have. It’s easy to lose focus on what life’s all about. We get caught up in worldly things and we lose sight of what’s important.”

Mike Pruitt loved life. He loved his family. He loved the agents and his job. He loved his God. And in his life, he made a splash.

Mike, this one is for you. Roll, Tide.

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