The name of a Mason County deputy killed in the line of duty in 1944 is being added to the state’s Law Enforcement Memorial in Olympia.
Mason County Chief Deputy Fred Hickson was killed in 1944. He had been working on a broken elevator at the county courthouse when he fell to his death in the elevator shaft.
His daughter, Doris Myers, is glad her father’s memory will live on.
“Seems like after a while most people are forgotten, but it’s good to see this. It really is,” said Myers, who is 92, and still lives in Mason County.
She needs a walker to get around, but she’s glad she still has her memory.
“I can remember just about everything in my life,” said Myers.
Her earliest memories are growing up in rural Mason County and riding around in her father’s squad car.
“They called it the ‘paddy wagon,’” said Myers, “Once in a while there’d be a criminal in the back seat.”
The sheriff's office has worked for years to have Hickson's death determined to be "in the line of duty" so his name could be added to the state and U.S. memorials honoring law enforcement members who lost their lives serving their communities.
