Brad Browne hailed from Picton and his goal was to join the O.P.P. First he moved north to find a job to support himself. He came to Sudbury and worked for the International Nickel Company as a miner.
By the time he was twenty-one years old, Brad was a long ways towards joining his chosen profession. He was accepted as a cadet with the O.P.P. at the Sudbury Detachment on April 8, 1968. His hard work as a cadet paid off in six weeks when he was able to call his parents and announce he had been appointed probationary constable.
On the night of November 13, 1968, just ten days into his probation, Constable Browne went on patrol on Highway 69 south with a constable who had four and one half years experience. The senior officer was the driver of the cruiser.
The officers where returning north when they encountered a transport with a load of steel experiencing load problems. The load of steel shifted and the transport literally crushed the O.P.P. vehicle, dragging it along the road for some distance before breaking free and rolling over.
Passenger Constable Browne was killed and a man from Richmond Hill, a passenger in the truck also died at the scene. The driver of the truck and the constable driving the vehicle were critically injured.
Mr. and Mrs. Browne requested a picture of their son in uniform so that it could be displayed in the family church. Today a portrait of Brad is on view in the Sudbury detachment.
Sam Ankenmann was born on September 16, 1928 and grew up on the family farm just east of the village of Shakespeare. He was twenty-seven years old when he was successful in a bid to be appointed to the O.P.P. on June 4, 1956. He served a while at Sauble Beach detachment.
Sam’s next and last posting was Sebringville detachment. He and his family had a happy life in the area and Sam always seemed to find something to smile about.
On the night of June 29th, 1968, the twelve-year veteran of the O.P.P. was alone in his marked cruiser. At about three forty-five a.m. he was patrolling westbound on Highway 7-8 toward Stratford. There were intermittent patches of dense fog that night and this condition may have played part in what happened next.
At a point in North Easthope Township, the police car did not follow the road as it curves to the south. Constable Ankenmann applied his brakes but his vehicle skidded and the right side went up into a seven-foot ditch, ploughed along for a short distance, bounced up and rolled over in a field and caught fire.
Two young men from the area pulled Constable Ankenmann clear from the burning vehicle. Sadly it was later determined that he was dead on impact.
Sam was survived by his wife and two sons.
In admiration for his dedicated service to the citizens of the Province of Ontario and honouring his years of service with the Ontario Provincial Police, a bridge was name in Sam’s honour at a ceremony on November 11, 2013 in the Sebringville area.
Peter Kirk was born on March 25, 1936 and achieved his goal of becoming a police officer when he was appointed to the O.P.P. on April 13, 1959. He served on the Ontario Provincial Police for nine years and spent his entire career at Hawkesbury, near the Quebec border.
Constable Kirk was thirty-two years old and in the prime of his life when he went to work on June 8, 1968. Early the next morning he was travelling west in his marked black and white cruiser on a stretch of Highway 17 between Alfred and L’Original. Coming in the opposite direction was an inexperienced eighteen-year-old driver operating a TR-3 Triumph convertible. As he passed a group of cars that Constable Kirk had been following, the young driver allowed his sports car to drift onto the soft gravel shoulder. He overcorrected and cross the centre line and shot right into the oncoming lane.
The police cruiser struck the smaller vehicle and rolled twice before coming to rest in the north ditch. Constable Peter Kirk was killed in the accident.
Peter was survived by his wife and two children.
Jim Hamilton was born on March 6, 1929. He spent a year with Preston Police Department before joining the Ontario Provincial Police on November 12, 1952. He had worked on the force for almost 15 years at Sarnia, Grand Bend, Sault Ste. Marie, Guelph and Markdale before coming to Listowel.
Constable Hamilton was working on Saturday August 17, 1967, after he had switched shifts to help out a fellow officer.
One year earlier a local Amish Mennonite from the area had been exhibiting signs of irrational behaviour and during this period this man had frequently struck his wife.
On August 19, 1967, this local man had quarrelled with his wife and she left the farm and told their two sons to stay away from the place. She called the O.P.P. and wanted them to check on the safety of the two boys who were out in the fields somewhere on the farm.
Constable Hamilton took the call. A friend of Constable Hamilton, a magistrate from the area came along for the ride that day as he frequently did in case he was required to sign documents, saving the O.P.P. members travel time.
The two men did not see the boys when they drove up to the lane leading to the farm. The marked cruiser was still in gear, approaching the buildings when the farmer opened fire through a window in the house with his 8mm Mauser rifle. He shot Constable Hamilton through the window of the moving car and also killed his passenger.
After receiving no answer from the house, a tear gas-assisted entry was made by police. Inside the farmhouse, the farmer was found dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Jim was the father of five children.
OPP Constable James Hamilton and Cully were best of friends. Although it is not clear why Cully Rocher went with Constable Hamilton on the call, he was known to ride along with officers regularly. Constable Hamilton was dispatched to a local Mennonite farm to check on the well-being of two boys at the request of their mother. She had left the farm earlier that day due to the abuse from her husband who was drinking and taking large amounts of medication. As the cruiser pulled into the laneway two shots were fired from the upstairs bedroom window, killing both J.P. Rocher and Constable Hamilton before their cruiser was even stopped. When officers arrived later, they found the cruiser still running with J.P. Rocher dead lying beside the open door and Constable Hamilton dead, seated at the steering wheel. The suspect was found later within the farmhouse having taken his own life.
Postscript:
The Board of Directions of the Ontario Police Memorial Foundation have included Justice of the Peace Cully Rocher retired Chief of Police of Listowel, for putting himself back on duty to assist an active police officer.
Tom Emery was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, England on June 29, 1929. As he grew up he had a strong desire to travel. He decided to see the world and went first to Australia, where he may have been a police officer in South Australia. Then he moved on to Canada spending some time in Calgary before coming east. At some point he was a military policeman, although the details are not known. In Tom’s spare time he had served with the Governor General’s Horse Guards.
Emery joined the Ontario Provincial Police on October 23, 1961. As a single man he moved around a bit, first to Kenora and then Fort Frances and later Lindsay before coming to work in traffic at Downsview on March 15, 1964. Along the way he took motorcycle training.
On July 25, 1966 at 4:12 p.m., Constable Emery was patrolling on the busiest roadway in Canada, Highway 401. He was in traffic following a Labatt’s brewery trailer and another trailer was parallel to him in the passing lane. The beer truck driver saw a metal bar on the pavement and swerved to avoid it. Emery could not see the obstruction until he rode over it and the jarring the bike received was enough to throw him into the air and he was run over by the trailer in the passing lane.
The Civitan Club of Toronto honoured Tom Emery’s memory by giving a trophy annually for several years to an outstanding Downsview member.
His mother who traveled from England to attend the police funeral survived Tom.
Bob Maki was born on August 22, 1935 and became a member of the Ontario Provincial Police on November 19, 1956. He served first at Cornwall and then continued his police career at the Rockcliffe municipal detachment.
On April 4, 1966, Constable Maki was dispatched to a public complaint of a young man was seen walking along the road discarding his clothing as he went.
Maki did not know that the suspect had been in trouble earlier that day. He had become involved in a dispute at his University of Carleton cafeteria where he had threatened other students with a knife. Constable Maki could see that the man in front of him would be difficult to control. He appropriately called for back up and was assisted by two other officers. The man was escorted to the Royal Ottawa Psychiatric Hospital.
At this point what should have been an uneventful occurrence when horribly wrong. A man in a white coat told the officers who had assisted Constable Maki that the situation was under control and they might leave. Unknown to them this man was only an interim and not ultimately responsible for the situation. After checking with Constable Maki, they left. Soon Bob Maki was left alone with the patient. Suddenly the patient ran out of the room and the officer went after him. He caught up with his agitated quarry and a struggle ensued.
As they struggled, Johnson succeeded in removing Maki’s revolver from his closed holster. Five shots were fired fatally wounding the ten-year Ontario Provincial Police veteran.
The thirty-one year old officer had been married for five years at the time of his death.
He is remembered by the City of Nepean with a most useful monument. Maki Park in the Crystal Beach area honours the officer.
After joining the Ontario Provincial Police in July 1958, Alex was posted at London Detachment, also working seasonally at Grand Bend, and at Dutton Detachment.
On August 30, 1964, Constable Prodan was chasing down a speeder along Highway 401. There had been recent changes to the highway, widening it to allow for four lanes with a grass covered median. A driver who was unfamiliar with the changes that had been made, mistakenly drove onto the wrong lane and collided head on with the cruiser that Alex Prodan was driving. The cruiser caught fire, and Constable Prodan was unable to escape.
Alex Prodan was survived by his wife and their four children. Alex was twenty-eight years old.
Clayton joined the Ontario Provincial Police in April of 1959. Initially he served at Kirkland Lake and he transferred to Powassan in 1961.
Late in the evening of September 11, 1963, a bull moose suddenly appeared in the path of the cruiser that Constable Armstrong was driving during a regular patrol on Highway 11. Although Clayton swerved to avoid the animal, the ensuing collision resulted in the cruiser’s roof being crushed on the driver’s side. Although his partner incurred only minor cuts and bruises during the accident, Clayton Armstrong died of a fractured skull.
Clayton Armstrong was survived by his wife, and four children. Clayton was thirty-nine years old.
Age: 55 years old
Widower with 3 children
25 years of service
James Sharp McDonald was born in Beith, Scotland on January 13, 1907. He served twenty-five years with the Ontario Provincial Police, first as a Special Constable in 1937, later moving to the regulars on June 1, 1943. He was posted to the Windsor Detachment. In 1947, James transferred to the Sandwich West Detachment. He was promoted to Corporal on March 1, 1952, returning to Windsor on December 1, 1953. On August 1, 1956 he moved to the Essex Detachment, then onto the Pembroke Detachment on March 1, 1957,
Corporal McDonald responded alone to a residence in Petawawa Township, which was the scene of a domestic dispute. The suspect was drunk and abusive. Corporal McDonald struggled with the suspect for sometime before getting him handcuffed and secured in the rear seat of the cruiser. While walking around the rear of the cruiser, Corporal McDonald suffered a massive heart attack, collapsed and died.
Postscript
Corporal McDonald was to be transferred to the Killaloe Detachment on September 1, 1962 to become the officer-in-charge.