Longtime Warren County deputy sheriff Otho V. Jones was remembered Monday as one of the most respected law enforcement officers of his generation.

“He was one of the most knowledgeable and well-liked law enforcement officials in this community,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said this morning. “He always conducted himself professionally and was highly respected by the men and women who worked for him as well as by the community at large.”

Jones was found dead in his home Saturday by neighbors after family members were unable to contact him. He was 77.

Jones, who grew up in Bovina, joined the Warren County Sheriff’s Department in 1972 under former Sheriff Paul Barrett. His knowledge of the community made him an easy choice to be assistant chief deputy, then chief deputy before his 1995 appointment as interim sheriff upon Barrett’s retirement. He remained top assistant until his retirement in 2002.

“He was my first appointment, as chief deputy,” Pace said. “He knew many of the day-to-day operations of the sheriff’s office and was loved by the men and women who he served in the community.”

Funeral arrangements with W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home were incomplete.