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Thread: A Lifetime of Public Service

  1. #1
    Join Date
    04-23-02
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    A Lifetime of Public Service

    My father-in-law recently passed and I thought I would share a little of his life. This isn't so much a condolence thread, it's more to brag about my kids grandpa.

    Roy was the Chief of Police for the city for almost 39 years. Our town is a bordertown surrounded by a couple of Indian Reservations and the socio-economic characteristics make that length of service in that role noteworthy. As his illness worsened a storyline of his retirement began to develop. I never herd Roy say he retired, and I don't think anyone could say what day was his last. His retirement celebration was on the 20th, the day he died. He would have died in the police station if he had his way. Here's a link to the story about naming the municipal courtroom after him:

    https://the-journal.com/articles/161...r-police-chief

    This time of year the weather is pretty crappy around here, so the only place big enough to have the funeral was the recreation center. I can guarantee you that there has never been nor will there ever be that many guns in there again. Speaking of guns, I never saw Roy carry a gun ever. His (mint I assume) service weapon was given to my brother-in-law who is a deputy sheriff. Here is a link to the obituary story:

    https://the-journal.com/articles/162...-roy-lane-dies

    One fact that was omitted from the obit was that Roy was born in Muleshoe Texas. I have never been there (that I know of). Also, this paragraph may resonate with a few of you:

    While chief, Lane handled many high-profile cases, including bank robberies, murders and drug trafficking. He led the investigation into the Cortez police officer Dale Claxton’s murder in 1998, which triggered to the state’s largest ever manhunt in Southwest Colorado and Utah. As chief, he also investigated the 2001 death of Fred Martinez, a Navajo student at Montezuma-Cortez High School who was murdered south of Cortez. The case got national attention and sparked a discussion about the LGBTQ community, garnering press from The Washington Post at the time and inspiring a now-popular PBS documentary “Two Spirits.”
    Officer Claxton was killed by "domestic" terrorists, and the search was the largest ever manhunt in the US. Where I live is the same general area the murders fled to and we had to go thru a roadblock to get home. We started leaving the keys in the car so they wouldn't be inclined to break into the house to escape. This was Roy's most difficult time.

    The funeral was quite the affair but time only allowed for a couple of funny story's from the speakers. The one about shooting the mannequin when he was a young officer responding to a burglary call at the local department store in Winslow AZ wasn't told. Maybe that one was just for us. Everyone did a wonderful job right up until the last radio call. I WILL track down the woman in dispatch who made that call and hug her.

    And in the final irony, the Governor declared December 20 forevermore as Chief Roy Lane Day. Thankfully Roy learned of this a few days before he died on December 20. The proclamation is the attachment.

    Anyway, I thought I would brag a little on my kid's grandpa. With all this, he considered his grandkids to be his greatest legacy. Thanks Roy and to all the rest of you who serve us public.

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    "Back after 5 years. I thought you had died.

    don"


    Splitting my time between the montane and the mesas

    The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

  2. #2
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    11-22-03
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    Quote Originally Posted by CactusCurt View Post
    One fact that was omitted from the obit was that Roy was born in Muleshoe Texas.
    RIP to the man......

    My Dad, who was in the oilfield supply business, had a few customers in Muleshoe who got regular visits...Dad always called it a "wide place in the road" but he had a few dedicated customers there...Sounds like your FIL was a good man to know, Curt......Ben
    The future is forged on the anvil of history...The interpreter of history wields the hammer... - Unknown author...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    10-14-01
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    Your kids got some good genes handed down to them!

    39 years as Chief in the same place speaks volumes about him. You don't beat the local politics for that long unless you are very good at what you do, and well respected by the community.

    Tell your sons that this old cop says they should be very proud to have a grandfather of his calibur and they have the genes to be like him, no matter what career they choose.
    I salute him.
    The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible - Arthur C. Clarke

  4. #4
    Join Date
    10-22-01
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    My hat is off to the Chief.

    Thank you for sharing that story with us
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
    "Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
    “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis

  5. #5
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    RIP Chief..

    Thanks and Well Done..

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sandman View Post
    RIP Chief..

    Thanks and Well Done..
    Amen.
    Fred

    "Everyday I beat my own previous record for number of consecutive days I've
    stayed alive."

    'Take care of yourself, and each other.'

  7. #7
    Join Date
    10-21-01
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    My father’s first job after getting out of pharmacy school was in Muleshoe in the 1920’s.
    ...............
    “You can vote your way into socialism, but you have to shoot your way out.” — Too fundamental to have an attribution


  8. #8
    Join Date
    04-29-17
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    Thanks for sharing. Sounds like he was a truly great man.
    OPINION....a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

  9. #9
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    01-15-02
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    Cool story, R.I.P.
    **************************************************
    Retired April 17, 2019
    Back to driving October 12, 2022
    Damn Credit Card
    Life’s too short to drink cheep booze and argue with stupid people.” Mickey Thompson

  10. #10
    Join Date
    10-21-01
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    Columbia, S.C.
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    They don't make them like that anymore! Get some rest Sheriff you earned it! Thanks Curt It's always warming to the heart to hear of such men.
    This is your mind on drugs!

  11. #11
    Join Date
    10-30-01
    Location
    Salt Lake City
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    30,647
    "...the Governor declared December 20 forevermore as Chief Roy Lane Day."

    It sure sounds like Chief Lane was a hell of a guy.

    Hunter
    I don't care if it hurts. I want to have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul. - Creep by Radiohead

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