Oakland County deputy loses battle to cancer, community fundraises for family support
PONTIAC, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The community is paying its final respects to an Oakland County sheriff deputy who lost his fight against cancer.
A visitation took place Friday at the Dryer Funeral Home in Holly for 32-year-old Deputy Nicholas Dotson.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told CBS News Detroit that Deputy Dotson always sought opportunities to be a leader during his almost ten years with the sheriff's office.
Assigned to the main jail, Dotson worked his way up into some of the elite teams–including the cell extraction team that focuses on resolving conflicts within the facility.
"So many people get into this because they want to make a difference, not because the hours are great 'cause they're not, because the pays great, 'cause it's not, but they want to make a difference. And he had that kind of spark and that kind of soul," Bouchard said.
Born in Lansing, Dotson graduated from Holly High School in 2009, where he met his wife Delaney.
The two became parents in the summer to their son, Sullivan, affectionately known as Sully.
While raising Sully, Dotson was also fighting Wilms Tumor, a rare kidney cancer that mainly affects children.
On Sunday, Dotson died.
"That kind of void is super painful as you approach a holiday. So it's going to be a remembrance, unfortunately, for the family going forward, that this was the time of the year when they lost their dad," Bouchard said.
The sheriff's office hopes the community can rally around the Dotsons one more time, setting up a fundraiser to help his wife and son.
"One of the challenges for us is that because it's not a line of duty death, you know when he passes, the family no longer has health care, they no longer have a lot of access to different things, the salary ends, all of those things just kind of dry up and so it's a big sad point for the community and the family," Bouchard said.
Dotson's funeral is set for Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Dryer Funeral Home in Holly.
