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Stretches of Old Atlanta Road near Cumming renamed for slain deputies
renaming
The families of late Deputy Bill Cantrell and Reserve Deputy Larry Mulkey were presented with road signs bearing their names during a ceremony Thursday along Old Atlanta Road. The men were killed while on duty in 1972. - photo by Kelly Whitmire

CUMMING — Local officials joined friends and family Thursday morning to pay tribute to two Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputies who were killed in the line of duty nearly 44 years ago.

Deputy Bill Cantrell and Reserve Deputy Larry Mulkey were abducted and shot to death during a traffic stop near North Old Atlanta Road in 1972.

The ceremony took place at Hwy. 9 and the former North Old Atlanta, where each side will have now bear the name of one of the deputies.

A section of what was previously North Old Atlanta extending from Hwy. 9 to Ronald Reagan Boulevard has been renamed “Deputy Bill Cantrell Memorial Road,” while the stretch from Hwy. 9 to Hutchinson Road will now be “Larry Mulkey Memorial Road.”

“These signs will be cherished,” said Allen Cantrell, Bill Cantrell’s son. “We will never forget, and now I am glad to know that the county won’t forget as well.”

He was one of several speakers during the ceremony, which also included remarks from: Sheriff Duane Piper; Jessi Cantrell, Bill Cantrell’s granddaughter; former sheriff Don Pirkle; and Commissioners Pete Amos and Cindy Jones Mills.

Pirkle spoke highly of both fallen officers, noting that Mulkey was instrumental in helping catch their killer by writing down his license plate number.

“Larry was an individual that I loved and respect so much,” Pirkle said. “He was an unpaid deputy that just happened to love law enforcement and the excitement that it sometimes brings with it.

“He would often come by the jail on weekends, and always requested to ride with Bill.”

Pirkle described Cantrell as a man deeply committed to God and his family.

“Bill, when I lost him … I lost my brother,” he said. “He loved his job and wanted to do everything he could to make this county a much better and safer place to live, work and raise our families. And that he did.”

Family member of both men were also presented with replicas of the new road signs.

“Any small part I’ve had in this, it’s probably one of the bigger honors I’ve had since I’ve been in office,” Piper said. “I’m sorry, its way overdue, there’s no reason for that, no excuse for it.”

The renaming was part of a project recently undertaken by commissioners to honor fallen public safety personnel. The effort will include designations for late firefighters Allyn Lane and Dennis C. Martin.

A currently unnamed road off Settingdown Road, at the east entrance of Coal Mountain Park, will be named for Martin, while an unnamed road in Shady Grove Park will bear Lane’s name.

No dates have been announced for the official naming of those roads.

Lane died in 1975 and Martin in 1984, with both deaths the result of car accidents while en route to their respective fire stations to respond to calls.