Lives of fallen officers remembered with tribute
CAROLYN BOSTICK | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 7 months AGO
Heads are bowed during Kevin Kessler's closing prayer during the dedication of a memorial marker Thursday morning for fallen Shoshone County police officers Earl Charles Ashton and John C. Farris.
CAROLYN BOSTICK/Press
Lisa Ashton, left, listens to Shoshone County Holly Lindsey speak of what it means as a law enforcement officer (LEO) to honor the sacrifices of fallen LEOs John C. Faris and Earl Charles Ashton. Ashton's father, Earl Charles Ashton, was shot and killed during a traffic stop on Interstate 90 in 1976.
Spike Angle comforts Roy Reel during the dedication of a memorial marker for two fallen police officers who were killed of the line of duty in Shoshone County.
Members of the Idaho State Police color guard prepare to march during the dedication of a memorial to two fallen police officers in Shoshone County Thursday morning outside the Shoshone County Courthouse.
Members of the Idaho State Police color guard take away the flags after the dedication of a memorial to two fallen police officers in Shoshone County Thursday morning.
Fallen Shoshone County police officers John Farris and Chuck Ashton were honored with the dedication of a memorial marker Thursday, August 17 outside the Shoshone County Courthouse.
Carolyn Bostick has worked for the Coeur d’Alene Press since June 2023. She covers Shoshone County and Coeur d'Alene. Carolyn previously worked in Utica, New York at the Observer-Dispatch for almost seven years before briefly working at The Inquirer and Mirror in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Since she moved to the Pacific Northwest from upstate New York in 2021, she's performed with the Spokane Shakespeare Society for three summers. | August 18, 2023 1:00 AM
WALLACE — “Car 6, no response.”
The dispatch radio’s note of silence spoke volumes for those in attendance as retired Deputy Sheriff Jim Shields read Thursday morning from the dispatch transcription of the final moments of Osburn Police Officer Earl Charles “Chuck” Ashton’s life.
“Nothing can ever prepare you for this call,” Shields said, speaking during a ceremony dedicating a memorial marker in front of the Shoshone County courthouse.
The memorial is a tribute to Ashton and Wallace Officer John Farris, who was killed in the line of duty in 1946.
Ashton was 23 when he was shot and killed Aug. 17, 1976, during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 90.
His daughter, Lisa Ashton, too young to have many memories of her father, saw the impact his death had on her mother, fellow law enforcement officers and the community.
“I turned 4 the next month,” Ashton said. She brought with her a small memorial stone belonging to her family inscribed with the words, “My tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I’d walk right up to heaven to see you again.”
Keeping his name a part of the community for future Silver Valley residents was a touching tribute to both her father and Farris.
“I think it’s been well-recognized, the sacrifice he made, even after 47 years,” Ashton said.
Former county dispatcher and dedication organizer Roy Reel was emotional during the unveiling of the memorial. Reel had spearheaded the project to create the memorial since he felt a profound connection to Ashton’s death as a county emergency dispatcher who took the call when Ashton was killed. Farris was stabbed while responding to a robbery in 1946.
Members of the Idaho State Police Color Guard and officers from Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office were part of the dedication ceremony, including a passionate speech from Shoshone County Sheriff Holly Lindsey.
Lindsey’s father was also a law enforcement officer and, as a child, witnessed his grief when partner John Huston was killed in the line of duty by a drunk driver in Grangeville.
Because of this and the way Lindsey has picked up her father’s mantle in the profession, the term, “end of watch” holds special meaning for her.
“We run toward danger when we’re scared to death. We serve a purpose larger than ourselves,” Lindsey said.
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