Police Officers Prayer Plaques

Police Honor Officer Slain in 1927

It was shortly before midnight on July 19, when Arcadia Police Officer Albert E. Matthies approached the parked Chevrolet Touring Car containing three youths: Frank Miller, Ray Oddell and William Montfort, all of whom were 18.

Believing that something was out of the ordinary, Matthies asked to see the car’s registration when Miller pulled from beneath his leg a .45 caliber handgun. Matthies lunged for cover behind the suspect’s vehicle when Miller fired two rounds through the rear window, fatally wounding the police officer. Matthies was pronounced dead at 12:07 a.m.. He was 27 years of age.

The year was 1927.

Monday at noon, 84 years later, the Arcadia Police Department ’s Honor Guard convened where the fatal shooting took place – at the intersection of Northview Avenue and Foothill Boulevard – to commemorate the death of officer Matthies – the only officer to have been killed in the line of duty in the department’s history.

Retired Arcadia Police Sergeant Andrew Ballantyne commenced proceedings with a bagpipe recital before John Jurman, president of the Arcadia Police Officers Association took to the podium to say a few words in Matthies honor.

He gave an overview of events that fateful evening - of how the suspects, having stolen the vehicle, were casing the nearby Wigwam restaurant for a possible robbery when Matthies approached – before turning his attention to the present day.

“Today, July 18, 2011, on this sacred ground, members of the Arcadia Police Department stand here for honor, they stand here for sacrifice, and they stand here to remember Officer Albert E. Matthies.”

The playing of the National Anthem rounded off proceedings before retired Sergeant Ballantyne took once again to the bagpipes as the small crowd dispersed.

The ceremony attracted a number of notable dignitaries, including Arcadia Mayor Gary Kovacic, whose presence, he said, was out of great respect for Arcadia’s police force. The most notable attendee, however, was arguably Zora Kristufek, Matthies’ only surviving daughter, who will turn 90 in August.

Kristufek said that she was just shy of six when her father was killed, and that she can’t remember much about him, other than that he was a “big, happy man.” She did recall some of his considerable achievements, however, citing a number of medals he was awarded in WWI that she “still had at home,” as well as his work for the Arcadia Fire Department that he performed concurrently with his role as a police officer.

Remembering "Goose" - The Advocate and Democrat - News Story

Staff photo by Michael Thomason

Leandra Spradlin, the wife of Madisonville Police Detective Steven "Goose" Spradlin, who died in July 2008, touches a copy of "A Police Officer's Prayer" that was put up at the police department to honor Spradlin's memory, while other family members and Monroe County Circuit Court Clerk Marty Cook look on. 

Madisonville Police Chief Gregg Breeden said officers can touch the prayer before they head out, much like many football teams touch certain objects before they hit the field. Breeden said Spradlin was an avid football fan and would appreciated the symbolism. 

Detective Jeremy Harrill unveiled the plaque.

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