Detective Friend Gerald Swinkle

Everyday I usually check the fop death notices.
The web page went down and for weeks/months I could not check for any friends that I might have known.

Today I found the FOP new death notices web page.

Checked for any I might have missed.

Every month or two I would get a friendly call from Jerry Swinkle.
Area 5 and Area 4 guy.

When I was a cadet he took a liking to me, and up until he retired. I drove him and other detectives to turn in their stars.

While in the car driving to hdqtrs, we all laughed and laughed.
Then while going up the elevator, silence. Not one peep. We walked in and they handed in their paperwork,,,but when it came to the star. Each one needed help to drop it on the table.

Jerry, was not comfortable letting go of his star.
It was silence in the car. And they all looked like they were leaving part of their souls.

Just a heck of a nice guy. While in fla, I called him and we talked in Oct.

I haven't hear from him since and felt bad I didn't call him.
I almost called him today....but got busy at the drs office.

Well, he passed Nov 14.....another friend and super nice guy gone.
He would just tell all the stories about everyone....who they were,where they came from and who they knew. And he liked everyone he met,,,never a bad word.

Ok, there were a couple supervisors,no one had a good word for. Jerry would just skip over them.

We would talk and talk for an hour. Some old stuff, some new, but always interesting.

A funny guy with a great laugh.

I knew him for 40 yrs.....

may he RIP