Police parade set for May 14

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by Tim Troglen

Reporter

Maple Heights -- In 1962 President John F. Kennedy signed a law designating May 15 as National Peace Officer Memorial Day.

Each year members of the Fraternal Order of Police George Murray Lodge No. 67, which is made up of officers from 17 area communities, gather together to honor those men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice while protecting others.

"This special day commemorates the memory of those men and women who faithfully served their communities and have since passed on," said Maple Heights Police Detective Sgt. Joe Ehrbar, who is commander of the Maple Heights honor guard.

"We encourage community recognition of those officers and provide a parade so the residents can view some of their current officers along with the specialized equipment used by those officers on their quest to keep their communities safe," he said.

While the national day is May 15, the Maple Heights parade will be May 14. It will start at Stafford Park, 5400 Mayville Ave., at 5:30 p.m., then march west on Maple Heights Boulevard, to Lee Road, with a ceremony taking place at the Maple Heights Veterans Memorial.

After the ceremony, a reception has been scheduled at St. Andrews Church, 116209 Maplepark Drive.

Ehrbar said this is the first time since 2000 that the parade, which will be led by the nine-member Maple Heights Police Honor Guard, has been in Maple Heights.

The parade will also represent police departments in Bedford, Bedford Heights, Oakwood and Walton Hills.

He said some of the equipment in the parade will be the bomb squad robot from the Southeast Area Law Enforcement agency along with the armored personnel carrier and mobile communication station. There will also be at least three pipe bands.

"The night before, the Boy Scouts will be putting blue ribbons along the route on Maple Heights Boulevard," Ehrbar said.

He said Maple Heights and Garfield Heights fire departments will also be involved, with a large tower formed by a fire engine ladder truck holding a 20-foot by 30-foot American flag in the air.

"We do this to not only honor those officers who have given their lives in the line of duty, but also those who made a career with the departments and have since passed away of other causes," Ehrbar said.

According to Ehrbar, nine members of the lodge have died in the line of duty since it was formed in 1946 including four officers from Garfield Heights.

The most recent officers from the lodge to have died in the line of duty were officers Robert Stefanov and Michael Brown, who died after their cruiser wrecked during a high-speed pursuit in 1994.

Ehrbar, who has been a member of the honor guard since 1979 and commander for eight years, said his love for the Maple Heights squad began before he became a police officer.

He said his friend, Dominick Boscarelli, an Olmsted Township police officer, was shot and killed in the line of duty.

Ehrbar said that was the first police officer's funeral he had attended. When the rifle squad fired off the rounds, Ehrbar said he was in awe.

He said he began thinking that if he ever joined a police department, he wanted to be a member of the honor guard.

Later, he found out the honor guard that day was from the Maple Heights Police Department.

"I didn't realize that I was looking at the one I would be on," he said.

"I'm here nearly 26 years," Ehrbar said of his time in blue. "For 24 of those years, I've been a member of the honor guard. So, it's something that was important to me from the beginning."

Ehrbar said officers have been honoring their own in Northeast Ohio since 1853 when John Osborne, a Cleveland marshal, was killed in the line of duty.

Lodge 67 was named after former Maple Heights police officer George Murray, who took a leave of absence to join the U.S. Army, losing his life during combat in 1944 during World War II.

"That's how it got its name," Ehrbar said. "To honor him."

The lodge now has more than 350 active members and about 150 retired members.

For Ehrbar and his squad, the day is not about putting on their uniforms and firing off a few volleys from rifles -- it is about honor and remembrance.

"We do this every year so those who have died will not be forgotten," Ehrbar said.

E-mail: TTroglen@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3165