In an emotionally-charged room, among friends in the Santa Barbara Police Department and in front of strangers, Jane Grand talked about the day she lost her husband in the line of duty.
She was 28 when her husband of nearly nine years, Detective Thomas Guerry, was shot and killed by a robbery suspect on Jan. 13, 1970. Their two daughters were 6 and 3.
Grand, now in her 70s, fondly recalled the support her family received from Santa Barbara police in the years since Guerry’s death during a visual arts commission meeting last month.
The organization was considering department plans to build a memorial for its fallen police officers — yet another way to honor Grand’s late husband.
“I told them that in that first year (after Tom died), I took part in many, many, many, many tributes to him,” she said. “One of the tributes was the planting of a pine tree on the steps of the police department in Tom’s memory. Once that was done, I was able to take the girls to see the tree. Over the years … I watched the tree grow along with the girls.”
In a rendering of the bronze statue, which will also be placed in front of the police station at 215 East Figueroa St., that tall pine peeks out, in a full circle kind of way.
But Guerry won’t be the only honoree.
Four more names will be engraved on plaques, a glimpse into the darkest days of the department’s more-than-100-year history and a shock to Police Chief Cam Sanchez, who at first was only privy to losing Guerry while on duty.
“It turns out, we have had five that died in the line of duty,” he said at a Santa Barbara City Council meeting earlier this year. “I decided we were going to honor all five in some way. Our hope and prayer is that we never add another name to it.”
The other police officers, in order of most recent:
Officer Henry Evans was 32 years old when he responded to a vehicle accident on Oct. 22, 1940. A frightened victim, injured in the crash, asked him to travel along in the ambulance, which was struck on the way to the hospital by a tanker truck, killing Evans.
Officer Clarence Jensen, 34, died on Oct. 18, 1932 in a vehicle pursuit while riding a motorcycle. He was a WWI veteran and Elks Club member.
Officer Ronald Wainscott, 27, died on Jan. 12, 1931 in a vehicle accident involving a motorcycle.
Officer Richard Williams died at age 38 on Dec. 19, 1921 from injuries suffered months earlier in a horse accident on the Fourth of July.
Police have been tracking down the officers’ families since late 2014, inviting them to a dedication tentatively set for May, close to National Peace Officers Memorial Day.
So far, the department has reached next of kin for everyone except Williams, who died the earliest and had no children.
Evans’ family has since moved to Las Vegas, Jensen’s great nephew is in San Luis Obispo and Wainscott’s relatives are in Bakersfield, according to Sgt. Riley Harwood.
Local artists Bud Bottoms, who designed the Dolphin Fountain at Stearns Wharf, has already begun work on the memorial — a life-sized statue of a police officer comforting a young girl holding a flag that would have been given to the family of a fallen officer.
The project has approvals to move forward, but the department must raise $60,000 to make it happen.
Police Activities League board president John Van Donge donated the first $5,000, and Harwood said anyone interested in helping can contact him at RHarwood@sbpd.com.
Grand, who has since married now-retired police officer Joaquin Grand, said she celebrates Guerry annually through the H. Thomas Guerry Awards for Excellence in Law Enforcement for Santa Barbara County, created the year he died.
She and her daughters, now 51 and 48, hope to attend the memorial dedication along with their “law enforcement family.”
“It would mean a lot to the family,” Grand said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.