Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Rest in peace always and know that your service and sacrifice will never, ever be forgotten by your law enforcement brethren.

Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo
Delaware State Police (Retired)

September 16, 2020

Rest in peace Patrolman Eichhorn.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

March 4, 2020

Patrolman Eichhorn,
On today, the 50th anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of the state of Washington. And to your Family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.

R.I.P.
USBP

Anonymous
United States Border Patrol

September 16, 2018

Just read an article your daughter wrote for the WA COPS newsletter. Such a shame that a dedicated public servant, a war hero died so young leaving such a nice family. And the person that took that life went free. R.I.P. Trooper. Thank you for your service...Godspeed!

Detective Joe L. Gilliland
Stanford, KY Police Department

March 3, 2014

Your heroism and service is honored today, the 54th anniversary of your death. Your memory lives and you continue to inspire. Thank you for your service. My cherished son Larry Lasater was a fellow police officer murdered in the line of duty on April 24, 2005 while serving as a Pittsburg, CA police officer.

Time never diminishes respect. You will always be remembered and revered.

Jann, I am glad that you have found some healing by volunteering with C0PS in your area, and I am sure you have helped many on their grief journey. I think survivors find their own individual way to honor and pay tribute to their beloved family member...by doing so, I think we carry on their mission. Your family is in my heart's embrace today.

Rest In Peace

Phyllis Loya
Mom of fallen California Officer Larry Lasater, Pittsburg PD, eow 4/24/05

September 16, 2012

Officer Eichhorn was my grandfather. Sadly, I never had the chance to know him. I know his death impacted my mother greatly and that her life was never the same because of it. I never really knew the specifics of his death until I read my mother's reflection just now. I remember her telling me the stories of how he would saddle her pony for her and how she would gallop around at break-neck speed while he watched. I'm sure it was because of him that she has such a great love of horses, and that love has also been passed down to me.

Reading this, I now realize that in a way I did know my grandfather to some extent, because I too have memories of my horse being saddled for me, but by my mother, and I too would go galloping around as she watched, just like her father did for her.

I know my mother's life was forever changed because of his death, but I also know that in the time she did have with her father, he instilled in her the strength she needed to survive the pain and turmoil that followed her her entire life. I am sorry I never got to know my grandfather, he sounded like a wonderful man, and I know he would have been proud of my mother, and that she is who she is today because of their short time together. I am glad she was able to be involved with the Washington State Concerns of Police Survivors program so that she could find some of the closure she needed.

Theresa J. Linderkamp
Daughter of Jann Clare and granddaughter of Ernest E. EIchhorn

July 18, 2012

What a heartbreaking story. I will be going to the Puyallup Fair this Sat. and I
stop by the WSP exhibit often. This year I will be thinking of you. Certainly
justice wasn't done in your case and I am happy your daughter found the peace
and closure she so desperately needed. Thanks for serving the Evergreen State!
Lynn Kole
Bellingham, WA

Anonymous

September 16, 2008

Ernest E. Eichhorn was my father and hero. He could make me feel safe and loved just by holding me in his arms. Even at 5 years old, I admired him, looking so gentle, strong, and tall in his blue uniform. He would hold me on his lap and read the comics to me from his newspaper. He would stop in his busy day to saddle my pony, just so I could ride before he went to work. He often worked nights, and was asleep when I woke up, so he’d leave treats for me on the seat of his patrol car. It was our special, daily ritual. It was his way of letting me know he was thinking of me even when we couldn’t be together.

It was a rainy opening day at the Western Washington Fair on September 13, 1958. That night, shortly after the fair closed, my father was directing traffic in a dark, busy intersection filled with fairgoers and traffic. He was wearing a rain jacket with reflective tape and carrying a red traffic flashlight. A man driving to pick up his wife from her job at the fair, struck my father. His vehicle was reported to have been traveling at speeds between 30-35 mph when it entered the intersection. The car crossed the white line and entered the lane where my father was standing, holding back traffic. When the vehicle struck my father’s body he was thrown 10’ into the air vertically and 30’ horizontally. Then he came to rest in front of the tires of a stopped car in the intersection. He was left unconscious, with a fractured skull and a compound fracture to his left leg. The first person to respond to the scene was my father’s long time friend and colleague. He reported that the driver admitted to have been drinking heavily during the 5 hours prior to the accident and didn’t see my father standing in the road. My father was taken to the hospital where he laid in a coma. On the third day, he showed some signs of regaining consciousness. But, the next day, September 16, 1958, he died. I had just turned 8 years old. I wasn’t allowed to go to my father's funeral because my mother was trying to spare me. But, I always regretted it because I never got to say goodbye. My mother was left widowed at the age of 35, with 4 children. She was a housewife and was left without any way to support her young family. She didn't receive any help or compensation, which was common at that time, because it was prior to any benefits programs. She had to get training and find employment to survive after my father’s death. Our lives were changed forever and my family experienced many hardships and the death of my brother as a result.

I became a teacher to dedicate my life to helping others like my father did. I always lived my life so that he would have been proud of me. But, not until 2004, did I find my real mission. I was introduced to other law enforcement survivors through the Washington State Concerns of Police Survivors. That May, they sent me to Washington D.C. for National Police Week. Only then, did I truly get closure and comfort with my father’s death. It was one of the most remarkable and life changing experiences of my life. I met people from all over the United States and the world...others who had lost loved ones in the line of duty. I met officers at the memorial who listened to my stories and let me cry on their shoulders. I wish someone had been there for my family in 1958. I know things would have been very different if we had received some support and compassion. By volunteering, I have been given a chance to honor my father’s memory by healing and helping others. I think he would be proud of me.

Jann Clare (Jannie Clare Eichhorn)
Secretary, Washington State Concerns of Police Survivors
Daughter of Ernest E. Eichhorn
EOW September 16, 1958

Jann Clare, Board Secretary
Washington State Chapter Concerns of Police Survivors

July 21, 2007

I salute you for your service and honor you for your sacrifice.

April 14, 2005

MAY GOD BLESS. GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. REST IN PEACE MY BROTHER.

CHIEF RONNIE WATFORD-RETIRED
JEFFERSON POLICE DEPT,S.C.