Mad1
11-30-2007, 09:33 PM
We laid to rest a good friend this week. I knew him such a short time, but he left such a tremendous impact on everyone that knew him. I thought I'd share two of the stories that accompanied his death so that you might know him too.
Good bye Eddie.
Story about his funeral (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/30/but-not-forgotten/)
Story about his death (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/25/boatwright-left-world-better-place/)
Mad1
Jeremy
Full stories below, but without the pictures that are in the links above.
Ex-police chief Boatwright ushered to rest with honors
By Tom Bailey Jr.
Friday, November 30, 2007
The service Eddie Boatwright arranged for himself proved to be a funeral spectacular on Thursday.
Helicopters flew. A horse walked. Rifles fired.
Bagpipes and a bugle blew sweetly.
A violin and piano played beautifully.
The ritual had firetrucks, a Tennessee Highway Patrol honor guard, a flag-d***** coffin, scores of uniformed mourners and a motorcycle escort.
But most of all, the service offered wonderful stories about Boatwright, Germantown's colorful former police chief (1989-97) and former deputy director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
He died Saturday of pancreatic cancer at age 60.
Former colleagues, police Capt. Dick Clinton, TEMA planning director Mac Purdy and former mayor Charles Salvaggio told lots of anecdotes about their friend.
Like the times Boatwright, who thought big, tried and failed to get approval to start a horse patrol, boat patrol (on the Wolf River) and a helicopter operation for the Germantown department.
"He couldn't get that one past the mayor, either," Clinton said, bringing laughter to hundreds of mourners at Germantown Baptist Church.
Boatwright got no boat, but oversaw a boatload of improvements to the Police Department.
He stabilized the force by working to increase salaries and retirement benefits for officers. He also made the department more self-sufficient, boosted specialized training with a SWAT team, K-9 and drug units, standardized the officers' weapons by having the city buy them and started Neighborhood Watch, Clinton said.
Boatwright loved guns and helicopters, Purdy said.
He recalled seeing Boatwright wearing an FBI hat and overalls during a weapons-qualification exercise. "That was him in his element," Purdy said.
"He glowed when he talked about his gun collection."
Salvaggio said he once asked Boatwright how he dealt so well with people after seeing firsthand all the horrible things people do to each other.
"He said, 'Charles, there's good people and bad people. I know I have to rise above those things and deal with the people still here.' "
Boatwright's funeral rose above the ordinary.
His arrangements included the 50-line soliloquy of Shakespeare's "Henry V," performed expertly -- and from memory -- by Purdy.
After an hour, the service moved to the church's front yard.
Dozens of police stood together in their dress uniforms.
Scores of TEMA personnel who came from across the state wore their tactical tan pants and black shirts.
Seven white-gloved members of the Germantown SWAT team fired a 21-round salute.
Col. Mike Walker of the Tennessee Highway Patrol played "Taps."
The droning from the west signaled the fast approach of three Highway Patrol helicopters.
Over the church, one copter broke formation, veering south for a missing-man fly-by.
Led by a mounted Tennessee State Parks ranger, the hearse slowly rolled away before picking up an escort of Highway Patrol motorcycles.
Boatwright 'left world better place'
Ex-Germantown police chief was 'true hero'
By Clay Bailey
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Former Germantown Police Chief Eddie Boatwright sat on his porch with friends a couple of months ago peacefully watching the Middle Tennessee sunset.
He was still laughing, still pulling practical jokes and having a pretty good time for a 60-year-old man who had been given the death sentence that he had pancreatic cancer.
"I'm not going to change just because I'm dying," the former chief said laughing.
On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Boatwright, who later went on to serve a short stint as police chief in Clifton, Tenn. and eventually became deputy director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, lost the battle with the cancer he learned about in April. He died at his home in Wayne County north of Collinwood.
Services are scheduled for Thursday at 1 p.m. at Germantown Baptist Church.
"The man was fearless. He feared no one in life, be they criminals or politicians," said Brian Roper, who served 71/2 years as Mr. Boatwright's deputy chief, and was a close friend. "He was a true hero. He was totally honest and truthful. He never feared death, either. He faced it like the true man that he was."
Mr. Boatwright retired in 1997 after eight years as Germantown's police chief. He was a reserve in 1974 and became a dispatcher in 1975 before joining the department as a full-time officer a year later. He moved up to assistant chief under Bob Cochran and was named chief on June 26, 1989, after Cochran retired.
During his tenure, the suburb was known for its low crime rate and adding special patrols, such as directed traffic enforcement and a dog squad, and organizing efforts following the 1994 tornado. He increased staffing on the department and advanced computer operations.
Mike Hill, a program manager with the University of Tennessee Law Enforcement Innovation Center, said he learned from Mr. Boatwright's actions when Hill was a Germantown police officer and detective. Hill said the former chief knew constitutional and criminal law, and he combined street smarts with an Andy Griffith-type approach to dealing with people. Mr. Boatwright's demeanor helped him when dealing with the public, a victim or a suspect.
"He took me under his wing," Hill said Sunday. "I learned a lot from Eddie on how to treat people. You treat them with the same kind of respect, and you'll get what you need."
Mr. Boatwright twice served as president of the state Association of Chiefs of Police and was a past president of the Metropolitan Association of Chiefs of Police. After leaving Germantown, Mr. Boatwright moved to a 300-acre spread in Wayne County that he and his wife, Nancy, called Rocky Hollow Ranch.
"I thought when I left police work, I was done," Mr. Boatwright said. "I would retire to the farm, ride the tractor and ride the horses. It just didn't work out."
He joined the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and eventually became deputy director.
Mr. Boatwright had resolved himself to the future after the cancer diagnosis, bypassing radiation and chemotherapy that might have extended his life for what he considered a better quality of life in his remaining days.
"I'm going out on my terms and it's not over in the corner throwing up," Mr. Boatwright said this spring. "I'm dead man walking."
Mr. Boatwright seemed to take the news in stride almost from the time he heard there was little hope of overcoming the pancreatic cancer.
He spent his last months learning woodworking, shooting his guns on the farm and entertaining visitors. A friend built a model railroad layout for him to watch in his final months.
"So many friends and colleagues have come by to honor Eddie for what he's done throughout his career in law enforcement and emergency management," his wife, Nancy, said recently.
She added: "They all recognize that he's made contributions to those professions and that he's left the world a better place."
In addition to his wife, and son, Robert E. Boatwright of Memphis, Mr. Boatwright leaves his parents Edwin and Helen Boatwright of Memphis and two sisters, Joyce Fay of Woodstock, Ill., and Ruth Caldwell of Tucson, Ariz.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be sent to either St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or the Elephant Sanctuary of Tennessee.
Good bye Eddie.
Story about his funeral (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/30/but-not-forgotten/)
Story about his death (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/25/boatwright-left-world-better-place/)
Mad1
Jeremy
Full stories below, but without the pictures that are in the links above.
Ex-police chief Boatwright ushered to rest with honors
By Tom Bailey Jr.
Friday, November 30, 2007
The service Eddie Boatwright arranged for himself proved to be a funeral spectacular on Thursday.
Helicopters flew. A horse walked. Rifles fired.
Bagpipes and a bugle blew sweetly.
A violin and piano played beautifully.
The ritual had firetrucks, a Tennessee Highway Patrol honor guard, a flag-d***** coffin, scores of uniformed mourners and a motorcycle escort.
But most of all, the service offered wonderful stories about Boatwright, Germantown's colorful former police chief (1989-97) and former deputy director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
He died Saturday of pancreatic cancer at age 60.
Former colleagues, police Capt. Dick Clinton, TEMA planning director Mac Purdy and former mayor Charles Salvaggio told lots of anecdotes about their friend.
Like the times Boatwright, who thought big, tried and failed to get approval to start a horse patrol, boat patrol (on the Wolf River) and a helicopter operation for the Germantown department.
"He couldn't get that one past the mayor, either," Clinton said, bringing laughter to hundreds of mourners at Germantown Baptist Church.
Boatwright got no boat, but oversaw a boatload of improvements to the Police Department.
He stabilized the force by working to increase salaries and retirement benefits for officers. He also made the department more self-sufficient, boosted specialized training with a SWAT team, K-9 and drug units, standardized the officers' weapons by having the city buy them and started Neighborhood Watch, Clinton said.
Boatwright loved guns and helicopters, Purdy said.
He recalled seeing Boatwright wearing an FBI hat and overalls during a weapons-qualification exercise. "That was him in his element," Purdy said.
"He glowed when he talked about his gun collection."
Salvaggio said he once asked Boatwright how he dealt so well with people after seeing firsthand all the horrible things people do to each other.
"He said, 'Charles, there's good people and bad people. I know I have to rise above those things and deal with the people still here.' "
Boatwright's funeral rose above the ordinary.
His arrangements included the 50-line soliloquy of Shakespeare's "Henry V," performed expertly -- and from memory -- by Purdy.
After an hour, the service moved to the church's front yard.
Dozens of police stood together in their dress uniforms.
Scores of TEMA personnel who came from across the state wore their tactical tan pants and black shirts.
Seven white-gloved members of the Germantown SWAT team fired a 21-round salute.
Col. Mike Walker of the Tennessee Highway Patrol played "Taps."
The droning from the west signaled the fast approach of three Highway Patrol helicopters.
Over the church, one copter broke formation, veering south for a missing-man fly-by.
Led by a mounted Tennessee State Parks ranger, the hearse slowly rolled away before picking up an escort of Highway Patrol motorcycles.
Boatwright 'left world better place'
Ex-Germantown police chief was 'true hero'
By Clay Bailey
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Former Germantown Police Chief Eddie Boatwright sat on his porch with friends a couple of months ago peacefully watching the Middle Tennessee sunset.
He was still laughing, still pulling practical jokes and having a pretty good time for a 60-year-old man who had been given the death sentence that he had pancreatic cancer.
"I'm not going to change just because I'm dying," the former chief said laughing.
On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Boatwright, who later went on to serve a short stint as police chief in Clifton, Tenn. and eventually became deputy director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, lost the battle with the cancer he learned about in April. He died at his home in Wayne County north of Collinwood.
Services are scheduled for Thursday at 1 p.m. at Germantown Baptist Church.
"The man was fearless. He feared no one in life, be they criminals or politicians," said Brian Roper, who served 71/2 years as Mr. Boatwright's deputy chief, and was a close friend. "He was a true hero. He was totally honest and truthful. He never feared death, either. He faced it like the true man that he was."
Mr. Boatwright retired in 1997 after eight years as Germantown's police chief. He was a reserve in 1974 and became a dispatcher in 1975 before joining the department as a full-time officer a year later. He moved up to assistant chief under Bob Cochran and was named chief on June 26, 1989, after Cochran retired.
During his tenure, the suburb was known for its low crime rate and adding special patrols, such as directed traffic enforcement and a dog squad, and organizing efforts following the 1994 tornado. He increased staffing on the department and advanced computer operations.
Mike Hill, a program manager with the University of Tennessee Law Enforcement Innovation Center, said he learned from Mr. Boatwright's actions when Hill was a Germantown police officer and detective. Hill said the former chief knew constitutional and criminal law, and he combined street smarts with an Andy Griffith-type approach to dealing with people. Mr. Boatwright's demeanor helped him when dealing with the public, a victim or a suspect.
"He took me under his wing," Hill said Sunday. "I learned a lot from Eddie on how to treat people. You treat them with the same kind of respect, and you'll get what you need."
Mr. Boatwright twice served as president of the state Association of Chiefs of Police and was a past president of the Metropolitan Association of Chiefs of Police. After leaving Germantown, Mr. Boatwright moved to a 300-acre spread in Wayne County that he and his wife, Nancy, called Rocky Hollow Ranch.
"I thought when I left police work, I was done," Mr. Boatwright said. "I would retire to the farm, ride the tractor and ride the horses. It just didn't work out."
He joined the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and eventually became deputy director.
Mr. Boatwright had resolved himself to the future after the cancer diagnosis, bypassing radiation and chemotherapy that might have extended his life for what he considered a better quality of life in his remaining days.
"I'm going out on my terms and it's not over in the corner throwing up," Mr. Boatwright said this spring. "I'm dead man walking."
Mr. Boatwright seemed to take the news in stride almost from the time he heard there was little hope of overcoming the pancreatic cancer.
He spent his last months learning woodworking, shooting his guns on the farm and entertaining visitors. A friend built a model railroad layout for him to watch in his final months.
"So many friends and colleagues have come by to honor Eddie for what he's done throughout his career in law enforcement and emergency management," his wife, Nancy, said recently.
She added: "They all recognize that he's made contributions to those professions and that he's left the world a better place."
In addition to his wife, and son, Robert E. Boatwright of Memphis, Mr. Boatwright leaves his parents Edwin and Helen Boatwright of Memphis and two sisters, Joyce Fay of Woodstock, Ill., and Ruth Caldwell of Tucson, Ariz.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be sent to either St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or the Elephant Sanctuary of Tennessee.