Will's Retirement Party

On Saturday night, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office (Will’s employer for the past 29 years) hosted a dinner in honor of Will’s retirement, which was effective January 1, 2009. There were funny slide shows and jokes about him, and various people got up and shared stories and thoughts about Will.

I wanted to speak but was feeling uncharacteristically bashful about getting up in front of the crowd of about 150, not wanting to embarrass Will by saying something foolish or get choked up and embarrass myself. Sometimes when I get in front of a microphone I get to talking and say all kinds of things that I had no idea were going to come out of my mouth. Kind of like when I start writing....Only worse cause I can't just delete it!

If I would have spoken to the group of Will’s friends and colleagues gathered that night to honor his career and his character, this is what I would have tried to say:

First of all, for those of you out there who don’t know me but have heard Will tell stories about me over the years, perhaps you are shocked to see that I look like a nice, normal middle-aged woman. The stories he has told that depict me as a crazed woman threatening violence to deputies who call or pound on the door in the middle of the night (or to those civilians who cause the situations that lead to the nocturnal phone calls) have been greatly exaggerated. I did not typically become agitated until the third phone call in one night-- or possibly sometimes the second call if I was awakened just after falling asleep. I’m pretty sure I have never threatened to beat up anyone if they call again, as Will has told people, but I do have faint recollections of politely requesting Will to go ahead and leave if they are going to keep calling him. I was always amazed at how he would answer the phone immediately out of a sound sleep and cheerfully head out into the cold dark night to see what was going on. He always said if he got three calls to update him about a situation, he would go out, but usually he headed out before it got to three. I’m pretty sure some of those guys thought it was fun to call the Detective Lieutenant, the Patrol Lieutenant and then Undersheriff in the middle of the night. Would have it mattered if they knew it was his poor wife who got cranky about getting awakened out of sound sleep, and that Will actually enjoyed the calls? No matter, it’s over now, and in the nick of time. At my age, I require a full night of uninterrupted sleep.

I have been very supportive of Will and his career during all my waking hours. People have often asked if I worried about him in this line of work, and I honestly can say that it was never a great concern to me. I rationalized early on that in this county, more people were killed in industrial and farming and car accidents than in police work, so I figured there were better things to worry about.

Some of you may have noticed that our three big boys are all wearing nice button-down-the-front sweaters. This is in to show their respect for their father, who for years had a similar gray sweater, which you've heard a few references to tonight, hanging on the back of the chair in his office when he was Patrol Lieutenant. Against my advice and to my great chagrin, he once wore it to an office Christmas party for which he was the MC. Tonight a deputy came up to the boys as they stood around in their sweaters, checking to confirm that they were worn in honor of their father and not as their own unique fashion statement. He told them he had tried on "the sweater" on at least one graveyard shift, and the sleeves nearly came to the floor!

You’ve also heard a few references tonight to how much Will always “enjoyed” working with the FBI. I never met any of them, but obviously it’s true he really liked them because he once brought one home for coffee. It was, of course, the only time in my life that I had ever dashed out of the house in the morning with dirty breakfast dishes on the table and a floor that badly needed a good sweeping. I was mortified to learn later that Will had been in the neighborhood with an FBI agent doing surveillance on a house nearby and he decided to bring this guy to our house for coffee. Of course our house has always been spotless ever since then* just in case an FBI agent was in the area and Will had a chance to make a good impression.

I first met Will when I worked at Lebanon Police Department as a records clerk before coming to work at the Sheriff’s Office in 1981. It was a very different circle of people than I was used to associating with in my sheltered life growing up as an innocent Mennonite girl. At first most of the cops seemed somewhat arrogant and cynical to me, and I told more than one friend that I would never want to date any of them. But Will became a good friend. He always made me laugh and it was always entertaining to hang out with him…Obviously it was meant to be as we celebrated 25 years of marriage last year.

I have always enjoyed listening to the stories of his adventures as he progressed through his career. My aunt and uncle from Missouri visited us last summer and Will took some of the family on a tour of Linn County – ending up at the Posse Camp of course. As he drove around the back roads and little known areas of the county, he had a never-ending supply of stories to tell about events that have taken place over the past 30 years in the areas we passed through. I really think he should write a book someday. Will always has a little different perspective on things than normal, I mean most people do. (Which is part of the reason he was such a GREAT detective, no doubt!)

I am very blessed to be the wife of this awesome old retired guy. The best part is that he has recently recognized that I am a princess and deserve to be treated as such. I will try not to abuse this powerful position, but now that he has so much more time to devote to my every whim, the possibilities are endless. Or, is the best part the fact that he has always made me laugh, and we are going to have more time to laugh and do things together?

I have seen how honored and proud Will has always been to serve the people of this county, and especially how hard he has always worked to make the Linn County Sheriff’s Office the best that it could be. He has so much respect for all the good people in all the different divisions there, and he has always said that he looked forward to going to work every day.

I want to thank all the people who worked so hard to put this party together, especially Debbie, (the secretary), Paul (Detective Captain), Bruce (Undersheriff) and Tim (Sheriff). Your respect and friendship for Will is evident, and you have done a great job in making this a very special evening to remember. The shadowbox you gave Will is absolutely beautiful, and we will rearrange our wall decor to make a special place for it!

*(It's my blog and I'll stretch the truth a little any time I want.... I'm just following the leadership of the new Undersheriff as he told stories about my husband!)