Born in April 11, 1950, Vaughn was athletic and enjoyed playing hockey. Vaughn joined the Ontario Provincial Police on October 4, 1971 and was posted to Sudbury Detachment.

In July of 1973 on his way to an accident, Vaughn hit a broken down van that had been abandoned and was sitting partially on the highway with no lights or warning flares. The traffic in the other lane prevented Vaughn from avoiding the van. As a result of the impact he incurred head injuries and lacerations.

Vaughn was off work recuperating for some time following the accident. Upon his return to work, Vaughn walked unsteadily, with a lean, would be forgetful and developed acute headaches. It was determined that the head injuries incurred during the accident had precipitated a brain aneurysm forming. On December 20, 1973, Vaughn McKay died when the aneurysm ruptured.

His wife and son survived Vaughn McKay and another son was born soon after Vaughn’s death.

Gil (Evan) Gilmore was born in October 1917. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. After the war he held various jobs until he joined the Ontario Provincial Police in January 1950. Gil was posted at Noelville, Sudbury, White River, Elliot Lake, Levack, Foleyet, Little Current and Spanish during his career. At Spanish he became a Corporal and held the position of Detachment Commander.

Early in his career, as a Constable, Gil had been wounded during a liquor seizure, having been shot in the leg by the suspected bootlegger.

On November 5, 1973, Constable Gilmore was notified about a stolen car being driven by three young men. Attempts had been made to stop the car, to no avail. Finally, after losing control and ending up in the ditch, the three men were caught and, after a scuffle with the officers, handcuffed. The exertion of dealing with the young men left Constable Gilmore feeling unwell and ultimately led to his death due to a heart seizure following severe physical exertion.

Gil Gilmore was survived by his wife.

Lloyd Lackey came from Smiths Falls and was born on September 1, 1930. He came to police work later in life having been a clerk then a truck driver. In 1966 he sought a position with the Ontario Provincial Police because it offered him better opportunities. At that time, he had a brother with the provincial police in Kemptville.

Lloyd and his family settled on Manitoulin Island at Little Current. He had professional duties and a busy family life but still managed to be active in playing baseball and curling in season. He was also a member of the Manitoulin Light Horse Club.

Lackey was working the night shift on Sunday, July 16, 1972 with a probationary member. The two officers went to a domestic dispute at West Bay First Nations Reserve and managed to calm things down. At about four o’clock in the morning they headed back to the O.P.P. Detachment.

The cruiser was coming around a bend with a slight rise in the road, just two miles west of Little Current on Highway 540 when they saw an oncoming vehicle swerve into their lane. The police car moved over as close to the edge of the road as possible without going into the ditch, but the emergency manoeuvre was not enough to prevent a collision.

The head-on-impact of the two cars completely demolished both front ends. Constable Lackey and the thirty-seven year old driver of the other car were killed on the spot. The two passengers of the car were injured and all three were subsequently found to be intoxicated. The probationary constable had a fractured knee and jaw and suffered facial lacerations.

Constable Lackey was survived by his wife and four children.

John Verral spent nine years in industry after leaving Simcoe District High School. He was born on April 15, 1939, and after leaving school he worked as a shipper with Canada Wire and Cable. Then he made a career move which was much more to his liking.

John joined the Simcoe Police force and worked with that department for two years. During that time he trained on motorcycles and thoroughly enjoyed his work. When he applied to join the Ontario Provincial Police he indicated that for him the provincials were a superior force and had more to offer. He was appointed to the O.P.P. on November 21, 1966. He served his entire career in Oakville.

In his free time he enjoyed training his dog, carpentry, skating, golf and weight lifting. On the job he was singled out for “care and consideration of his uniform and equipment”.

Two years after he became an Ontario Provincial Police officer, Constable Verral was chosen to become a member of the Golden Helmets Precision Motorcycle Team.

On October 8, 1971 the team was putting on a show at the Norfolk County Fair in Simcoe, Ontario. The problems started when the second last ride was performed. Constable Verral was having difficulty maintaining speed, control and balance of the bike. In the last crowd-pleasing event, called “The Charge” or “Finale Formation” two teams of machines in parallel lines ride towards each other with flashing lights and sirens in full operation. As they approach each other they pass through and continue to the opposite end of the show track.

When the piece commenced, the noise of both machines and the roar of the crowd were deafening. Verral was leading a team of three machines and had almost reached the end of his leading run when his bike began to wobble. He veered to the right and struck the last rider in the oncoming group. This threw him in the path of another machine proceeding parallel to him in the same direction. The rider could not avoid Constable Verral and ran over him. Constable Verral died of a broken neck and other injuries.

John Verral was survived by his wife, two daughters and one son.

Stefan Schultz was born on September 21, 1931. His family came to Canada from Germany in 1951. Stefan worked in Hamilton building tires until he could find something better. When he first sought employment in the Ontario Provincial Police he was considered both ambitious and intelligent. The fact that he spoke fluent German and Polish was considered a real asset.

He was appointed to the Ontario Provincial Police on October 7, 1963. He spent his entire police career in Brantford.

On Sunday July 19, 1970, Schultz and his partner were on the road in an unmarked car. At about two-twenty a.m., the officers were westbound on a straight stretch of Brant County Road 20. They came across a parked car on the south shoulder of the road and stopped to check it out. Traffic was minimal at that time of night so the cruiser was left on the travelled portion of the road with its headlights on.

There were five people standing on the road drinking. Schultz’s partner started to take information while Schultz placed the beer in the cruiser. The officer’s were just about to charge the drinking party with Liquor Licence Act violations when another car travelling east came upon the scene. The other officer saw it and shouted “Look out!” but the warning came too late for those standing on the road. Five of the seven people standing there were killed. Schultz was one of the unfortunate ones who was killed. His partner lost a leg and spent nine months in the hospital.

Constable Schultz was survived by his wife and three children.

He is remembered on a plaque at the Brant County Ontario Provincial Police building.

Bill Rodgers was born in 1937 and attended Campbellford High School. He then joined the Canadian army and served for six years in the Signal Corps, learning the trade of a teletype technician. After he left the forces he became an electronics technician.

He joined the Ontario Provincial Police on January 31, 1966 and served at Sarnia before moving just down the road to Petrolia.

After serving the province for four years and at the age of thirty-three, Constable Rodgers’ career as police officer came to a tragic end. On February 25, 1970 a blinding snow storm snarled traffic in much of southwestern Ontario. Constable Rodgers had already attended one accident scene that morning when he was dispatched at 11:29 to investigate another accident on Highway 7 and Highway 22. After locating the reported site, he turned on his roof and other lights and stationed his car west of the accident area so as to warn oncoming motorists of debris in the area and parked cars. He directed traffic but the work was difficult because much of the time visibility was almost nil.

Two citizens stood by Constable Rodgers engaging him in conversation while he struggled to route traffic through the blinding snow. At 12:35 p.m. a westbound car could not avoid the trio and ploughed into the men on the highway, killing them instantly.

For several years the William R. Rodgers Memorial Curling Bonspiel held by the Ontario Provincial Police Association kept Bill’s memory alive in Petrolia.

Bill was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Constable McGillivary was traveling on 12th Street, crossing the Toronto-Hamilton Highway in New Toronto when he lost control of his motorcycle and was thrown, striking his head on the pavement. He died later in St. Joseph’s Hospital from a fractured skull.

Reginald was born in Teeswater, Ontario, on November 18, 1923. He spent three years in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, in radar construction and as a service policeman. Following his honourable discharge, Morden was hired by the Guelph Police and served with that force for two years.

He was appointed on February 2, 1948 to the OPP. He served in Sudbury District for fifteen months, mostly in Gore Bay and Little Current on Manitoulin Island. Shortly before his death he had been transferred to headquarters staff at Sudbury, then 13 District.

On May 17, 1949, Constable Morden was killed in a motor vehicle accident. Morden and PC Ed Schroeder were proceeding northbound on Highway 68 and just ahead in the opposite direction was a taxi carrying two passengers.

Later the taxi driver stated that the police vehicle was so close that as it began to pass him, the left front wheel touched the taxi’s rear fender. Morden’s car then swung out with the impact, hit soft gravel at the side of the road, fishtailed and slid toward the ditch. The car then rolled three times.

Reginald Morden was still alive when he was extricated from the wreck but pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. His passenger PC Ed Schroeder suffered severe shock and other injuries but eventually recovered.

Prior to his accident, the officer had applied for leave so that he could travel to Guelph to be married on May 28, 1949.

Lorne Chapitis was born in Toronto on March 5, 1930 and worked first as a factory clerk and later for Canadian Tire. He became an army cadet and moved up to the armoured regiment militia. He joined the Ontario Provincial Police on November 13, 1951 and learned policing at Mount Forest, Owen Sound, Guelph, Walkerton and finally the Peterborough detachment.

Lorne’s wife said Lorne could be characterized as outgoing and inquisitive. Both qualities plus an aptitude for criminal work earned him a corporal’s stripes on May 1, 1962, and he was promoted to detective sergeant on June 1, 1964. This officer had commendations for investigations in armed robbery, non-capital murder and assault. When he attended his last call, Chapitis had just learned he had passed the examination for detective inspector.

On December 11, 1968 Lorne Chapitis and Jim Smith received a call requiring them both to go assist Minden Ontario Provincial Police at South Lake in response to a call that a man had threatened to kill his mother and was barricaded in the family home. Lorne was a trained hostage negotiator and Jim was adept at using tear gas. D/Sergeant Chapitis and Corporal Smith joined five Minden officers and they all surrounded the house. Two officers covered each door and one was a rover in between and the two Peterborough men waited to see how they could help. One officer lunged at the man when he left the house but had to swing around a toboggan leaning against the way. This allowed their quarry to get clear and he discharged a rifle into the floor.

Chapitis and Smith came closer and started to talk to the man. The man shouted for them to come closer where he could see them. When they did so, unarmed and hands held out to show they posed no threat to the man inside the house, the man fired three times, killing Chapitis instantly and wounding Smith so that he died within minutes.

One of the other officers present reacted by firing three shots to prevent the man from reaching his rifle. Another constable could see the shooter through a window, and when a cry rang out that the two officers were down, he disregarded his own safety and dived through the window, overpowered the suspect until others were able to secure the prisoner.

Lorne was survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

Jim Smith was born in January 16, 1925 and hailed from the Chatham area. After attending Westdale Technical Institute in Hamilton, he joined the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and later served his country in the Fleet Air Arm, from 1944 to 1946. Smith became a journeyman mechanic after the war but was looking for a more interesting future.

He achieved this goal when he joined the O.P.P. on August 2, 1955. Jim became a corporal on January 15, 1966 and worked in identification services. On his own initiative he took a correspondence course with the Institute of Applied Science in Chicago in advanced fingerprints and photography.

On December 11, 1968 Jim Smith and Lorne Chapitis received a call requiring them both to go assist Minden Ontario Provincial Police at South Lake in response to a call that a man had threatened to kill his mother and was barricaded in the family home. Lorne was a trained hostage negotiator and Jim was adept at using tear gas. Corporal Smith and D/Sergeant Chapitis joined five Minden officers and they all surrounded the house. Two officers covered each door and one was a rover in between and the two Peterborough men waited to see how they could help. One officer lunged at the man when he left the house but had to swing around a toboggan leaning against the way. This allowed their quarry to get clear and he discharged a rifle into the floor.

Smith and Chapitis came closer and started to talk to the man. The man shouted for them to come closer where he could see them. When they did so, unarmed and hands held out to show they posed no threat to the man inside the house, the man fired three times, killing Chapitis instantly and wounding Smith so that he died within minutes.

One of the other officers present reacted by firing three shots to prevent the man from reaching his rifle. Another constable could see the shooter through a window, and when a cry rang out that the two officers were down, he disregarded his own safety and dived through the window, overpowered the suspect until others were able to secure the prisoner.