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Wednesday, November 30, 2016
The Chronicle
$1 Vol. 134, No. 48 18 Pages
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Remembering a fallen St. Helens police marshal
Police Marshal Dale Perry: A life not forgotten
Courtesy photos
St. Helens Police Marshal Dale Perry died in the line of duty on Nov. 22, 1924.
Photo courtesy of St. Helens Police Department
Dale Perry was a St. Helens Police Marshal. He was killed in the line of duty in a motorcycle crash on Columbia Boulevard. BY CODY MANN cmann@countrymedia.net
On Nov. 22, 1924, St. Helens Police Marshal Dale Perry was killed in a motorcycle crash on a foggy Columbia Boulevard. It would be 81 years before Perry was officially honored for his service. Perry lost control of his motorcycle and struck a utility pole, likely during an attempted traffic stop. A newspaper article from the Nov. 28, 1924 issue of The St. Helens Mist (a predecessor of The Chronicle) speculated Perry may have gone off the road due to oncoming headlight glare, or in dim lighting he may have drifted onto the shoulder.
After the crash, Perry was carried to the nearby Free Methodist parsonage and doctors were alerted. He was then moved to Good Samaritan hospital, but he never regained consciousness, and died from a skull fracture and internal injuries. He was 29 years old and served 11 months with St. Helens Police Department. He left behind a wife, a 5-year-old son and a 2-year-old son. Research indicated Perry might have been the city’s only police officer at the time. A native of St. Helens, Perry was born and raised in the community he gave his life serving. He graduated from St. Helens High School in 1916 and attended Oregon
Agricultural College (which became Oregon State University) for several years. The newspaper article about his death said Perry was well known in St. Helens, and during his funeral the town paused – businesses were closed and flags flew at half-mast – as hundreds of people paid their respects. Hillsboro Police Department Sgt. Eric Bunday, a 15-year veteran of police work, is vice president of Oregon Fallen Badge Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2011 that assists the loved ones and coworkers of law enforcement personnel who are killed in the line of duty. Bunday began his career in 2001 with St. Helens Police Depart-
ment and later served with Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Speaking before the Oregon House Judiciary Committee in 2013, Bunday said, “To truly tell you how I ended up on this journey that led me here today and fueled the passion that drives my service to the police survivor community, we have to go back to November 22, 1924.” “On this date, a young St. Helens city marshal, Dale Perry, attempted to stop a speeder in a fog bank when he lost control of his motorcycle, struck a power pole and died of his injuries,” he said.
See PERRY, Page A11
Operation Found Safe: Advocates for missing children BY CODY MANN cmann@countrymedia.net
As a parent, the fear of losing sight of your child for even a moment can be terrifying. When a child goes missing, often times a volunteer organization will get involved and try to help. Operation Found Safe has the stated purpose of educating communities about protecting children from abduction, exploitation and human trafficking by working closely with families and law enforcement to assist with locating missing children across the county.
Courtesy photos
Calista Motherway-Parmley was reported missing from Scappoose in July of 2016.
Recently, the Oregon branch of Operation Found Safe released information and photos of 16-year-old girl from Scappoose who has been missing since July 6, 2016. Calista Motherway-Parmley was described as a white female, 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing 110 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She has pierced ears and may have dyed her hair. She may go by the nickname “Cali.” If you see her, call 9-1-1 immediately. She may be in the Columbia County area or in the state of Washington. According to the Department of Justice, 2,100 children go
missing every day, approximately 800,000 are reported missing every year, and as many as 2.8 million children run away each year in America. Within two days on the streets, one-third of missing children will be lured or recruited into the underworld of prostitution and pornography, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. OFS consists of a network of licensed investigators and volunteers who donate their time and services to help find missing and endangered children between the ages of 11-16, the age group most targeted by hu-
man traffickers. The services are offered free of charge within 120 days of reporting the missing child to authorities. After a missing report has been filed with the police, parents or guardians can complete an intake form and submit it on the website at www.operationfoundsafe.org. Volunteers for OFS produce and share posters online that describe missing and exploited children and provide contact information for tips and leads. The investigators work with local law enforcement in the areas of disappearances. A copy of the poster is also given to the parents or guardians of the missing child so they might print fliers to post. The organization also provides information and support in what might be a nightmarish time for any parent. Volunteering for an organization such as OFS can be rewarding. There is a sense of contributing in the face of a national epidemic, even if only by sharing a photo of a missing child that somebody might have seen. Imagine the feeling of knowing you helped a child be “found safe.” The organization offers assistance in 31 states. Anyone interested in volunteering should go to the website at www.operationfoundsafe.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Details of Perry’s life history were provided by Eric Bunday, Oregon Fallen Badge Foundation The corner of Columbia Boulevard and Crouse Way in St. Helens is fairly inconspicuous. People pass it daily with no idea of the tragedy that occurred there 92 years ago on a foggy Saturday evening when a police marshal died. Dale Perry was born on Sept. 3, 1895, on a Yankton-area farm. During high school, he dominated in both football and track and field. When Scappoose High School students played a prank on St. Helens High School, painting the SHHS steps in SHS colors, St. Helens track team’s coach decided his athletes would not compete at an upcoming meet as a protest. Perry had other ideas. Perry walked the distance from St. Helens to Scappoose, announced he was there to compete as the St. Helens High School track team and won every event singlehandedly. His athletic prowess earned him enshrinement in the St. Helens High School Athletics Hall of Fame. Recruited by Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University), Perry moved to Corvallis and played football for the Beavers. He was a key contributor to the 1917 squad that earned the second-ever victory over the Ducks in the Civil War game. In college, Perry met a young lady named Betty and she soon became his wife. They moved back to St. Helens and bought a house on South 4th Street. At the onset of World War I, Perry attempted to enlist, but he was turned away because he was flat-footed. During the war he worked in the shipyards. In 1919, Perry’s family grew by one when Betty gave birth to their first son, George. He found work as a fire watchman for the Columbia County Rural Fire Protection District spotting forest fires. Perry was instructed to find a good spot to watch the area northwest of St. Helens, so he found the tallest fir tree in the area and built a lookout. More than 250 feet above the ground, the lookout was thought to be the tallest one built in the area. Perry garnered much attention, including newspaper articles lauding the feat. The board of directors for the district, however, did not feel as warmly about his accomplishment. They ordered him to stop climbing up to the lookout, referring to it in a letter that first thanked him for his efforts, as being a “dangerous proposition for a man to use.” The Perry family grew once more in 1922, when they welcomed their second son, Robert. Duty called again for Perry in January of 1924. He was offered the position of town marshal, which he graciously accepted. He patrolled the fledgling city on an Indian motorcycle with a sidecar that he used for prisoner transports. With Prohibition in full swing, Perry reportedly paired up with Sheriff Wellington to bust bootleggers, and the stories of their exploits filled the local papers. Perry, still held in high esteem for his many athletic feats in
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