Mourning the death of 22nd Judicial Assistant District Attorney Millard “Kenny” Gatewood, those close to him remembered one thing: he wasn’t afraid to be himself.

As a “country boy” from Franklinton, Gatewood, a father of five, wasn’t flashy, but he plowed through cases with a steady hand and an encyclopedic knowledge of the law. The cases were what mattered, while his dress sometimes didn’t. Once he showed up in the office in white knee high boots.

“He looked liked he’d been out milking cows,” said Sylvia Forbes, then a council clerk with Washington Parish who now is an accounts payable clerk. “To me he was not your typical attorney when you looked at him. Appearance was not his forte, but he always, always got the job done, and that’s what mattered.” Gatewood died in a single vehicle accident at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on Louisiana Highway 16 about 1.2 miles east of Louisiana Highway 450. For some unknown reason, his 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee veered 113 feet to the right and hit a tree, State Police said.

Despite wearing a seatbelt, Gatewood was pronounced dead at the scene, State Police Troop L spokesman Louis Calato said. Alcohol is not considered a factor in the accident.

Despite his sometimes rough appearance, Gatewood, 48, was well known and respected as a 14-year prosecutor in Washington Parish as well as a former talk radio host on WFCQ in Washington Parish, the station his father founded.

“It’s just devastates us from the standpoint of losing a friend and a colleague,” said Houston Gascon, first assistant district attorney for the 22nd Judicial District, where Gatewood was first hired in 1994. “We have a tremendous hole to fill.”

After years of prosecuting felony cases in the 22nd Judicial Court, Gatewood helped cement his name in political and legal circles when in 1999-2000 he helped convert Washington Parish government from its police jury administration to one based on a home rule charter.

“He was there when that new government was born,” Gascon said.

Once Washington Parish’s lead attorney in defending and filing civil suits, Gatewood took a step down in recent years and lent consulting advice to new lead attorneys.

Gatewood leaves behind his children Byron, Emily, Cameron, Brennan and Mackenzie, as well as his wife Denise, Gascon said.