by Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer
Several descendants that Const. John Lewis never had the chance to know gathered on the second floor of Sarnia Police headquarters Wednesday for the dedication of a memorial wall for officers killed in the line of duty.
“It’s good to see that they’re honouring the dead in this way, and keeping their memories alive,” said John Hardick, a grandson born many years after Lewis’s death.
“It means a lot to the family.”
Lewis joined the Sarnia Police in 1929 and was one of just 10 officers policing the city of 20,000 in May 1936 when he was called to a downtown liquor store by a report of a robbery. There, he was shot by notorious criminal Norman “Red” Ryan, who was later shot and killed, along with an accomplice, by two other officers.
Lewis died that evening at Sarnia General Hospital, leaving behind a wife and two children, including Hardick’s mother who was a young child at the time.
Chief Phil Nelson with memorial commemorating two Sarnia police officers killed in the line of duty.
Also honoured on the memorial wall is Const. Roy Vanderveer. He had spent eight years on the force when he was on a motorcycle, chasing another vehicle on Highway 40 in March 1944 and died when he collided with a train at a crossing. Vanderveer was also married and the father of two when he died.
Chief Phil Nelson said the idea for the memorial came from Const. Les Jones and Const. Giovanni Sottosanti, officers with the community services branch. Nelson said he felt the memorial was very appropriate way to honour the fallen officers, particularly during the city’s centennial year.
The memorial is located in the lobby outside the chief’s office. It includes photographs of both officers, a sign reading, “Never forgotten for the sacrifice they made,” along with a memorial book holding their names and biographies. The memorial book sits on an oak podium handmade by Cal Gardner, the city’s emergency management coordinator
“Whenever I step off the elevator now and I look at that, it’s a very sober reminder of just, sometimes, how dangerous this job can be,” Nelson said. “We’ve always honoured our officers who have served here, but these two officers gave their life in the performance of their duties.”
Nelson said policing, like many jobs, can be dangerous and added the city police service has been “very blessed with the fact we’ve never had any officers seriously injured or killed in the line of duty since that time.”
Nelson thanked members of the families of both fallen officers, and told the approximately 40 spectators at the ceremony that after Lewis was killed, the chief of the day convinced the city to increase the size of the police force by five officers. Today, it has 111 officers who are reminded daily to remain safe and alert, Nelson said.