WOODVILLE — For many years, there was one face that defined the Woodville Police Department. That face belonged to James “Fozzie” Forman.

Forman died Wednesday at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge. He was 64.

A resident of Woodville for 42 years, Forman entered local law enforcement there in 1967 as a patrol officer.

By 1970, he was appointed police chief.

“He was an institution down there,” Sixth District District Attorney Ronnie Harper said. “He was the police chief for many years, a great person, a great law officer — he was an icon in that community.

“His presence down there was a very positive influence in that community.”

Forman’s tenure as police chief may not have been the longest in Mississippi history — no one is sure because some records have been lost — but he is the longest-serving police chief in recent memory.

When Forman retired in 2009, he had been police chief for 39 years.

The next longest-serving chief didn’t start his service until 1989, Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Director Ken Winters said.

Because the Woodville Police chief’s position is an appointed one, the length of Forman’s time in office is a testimony to how well people perceived he was doing his job, Woodville Municipal Judge David “Shep” Crawford said.

“He was a very young man when he became chief and served through numerous city administrations and went through a lot of tough times in the 1960s and 70s, and everybody had a tremendous respect for him,” Crawford said.

“His time took him through 10 election cycles and he kept being re-appointed, so he had to be doing something right.”

Part of what he did right was being the best lawman he could with what he had at his disposal, Harper said.

“A small department like Woodville, sometimes is very difficult because of the limited resources, but he was one of the best and was able to do many things that other people with those kinds of resources would not be able to do,” he said.

Woodville City Clerk Cathy McCurley said Thursday the town was drafting a resolution to honor the late chief.

“He was a good friend, and this was a real big loss,” she said.

Visitation for the Forman family will be 10 to 11 a.m. at Woodville Baptist Church today.

The funeral will be 11 a.m. at the church.