WLOX-TV Biloxi
Biloxi post office renamed to honor Officer Robert McKeithen
Today, U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith are celebrating the final passage of legislation.
By Amber Spradley
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith celebrated the final passage of legislation designating a Biloxi post office as the “Robert S. McKeithen Post Office Building.”
The bill to rename this post office in honor of Robert McKeithen was originally introduced by Rep. Steven Palazzo.
The Senate passed the bill Tuesday evening, voting all in favor.
Robert McKeithen was a long-time Biloxi Police Officer who was ambushed and killed in the line of duty.
“Robert certainly is not - he wouldn’t be forgotten here anyway, but this even just shows the respect the community has, you know, for police officers here,” said Chief John Miller. “We think that’s great to have in our community.”
McKeithen graduated from the University of Mississippi and went on to serve in the Air Force. He retired as a Tech Sergeant, and went on to work as a police officer in Biloxi for 24 years. McKeithen received the Medal of Valor for his efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
McKeithen was shot to death in the front parking lot of the public safety center in May of 2019.
“It certainly honors Robert. That was a tragedy for us. This department will never get over that. You know, we’ll always deal with that, and the circumstances surrounding it were very for us to move on from, but we have. And I think Robert’s family will be, you know, overjoyed about this,” Miller said.
“It has become official, so it’s such a special day and special honor, you know, for a person who’s really given up his life as a policeman,” said Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich. “It’s just a tremendous challenge, tremendous, you know, dedication.”
The post office is located at 135 Main Street.