IN HONOUR OF ATKINSON
Windsor Police Sgt. Steve Betteridge greets Shelley Atkinson and her children Nicole, right, and Mitchell on Friday during a Herb Gray Parkway tunnel dedication ceremony at St. Clair College to honour Sr. Const. John Atkinson, who was killed in the line of duty on May 5, 2006. Atkinson was gunned down by a drug dealer.
Eleven years to the day after being gunned down by a drug dealer in the neighbourhood he had sworn to protect, Sr. Const. John Atkinson of the Windsor Police Service became the first officer in Ontario to have a tunnel named in his honour.
“It’s a tremendous way we can all remember the sacrifice John Atkinson made for our entire community,” said department spokesman Sgt. Steve Betteridge.
In a moving and emotional address at a special dedication ceremony at St. Clair College’s Student Life Centre, Atkinson’s widow Shelley, flanked by son Mitchell and daughter Nicole, thanked the community and those who continue to serve for all their support since her husband’s death. “A pathway once filled with so much darkness is now surrounded by an enormous amount of light,” she told the hundreds who attended, including a large contingent of officers from the city, as well as OPP, RCMP and other police departments.
The commemoration signs were erected Friday on either side of the Herb Gray Parkway tunnel next to St. Clair College, where both John and Shelley studied and graduated. Mitchell is about to graduate from the college, and Shelley said her daughter will be enrolling there this year.
“You’ve created today a memory that will now bring them comfort,” Shelley said of her children.
WFCU Credit Union president Eddie Francis also announced on Friday that $2,500 memorial scholarships will be awarded annually in Atkinson’s name to two St. Clair College students who have been “committed volunteers” in the community.
Coinciding with Windsor Police Service’s 150th anniversary events, Betteridge said the highway naming was “a very fitting tribute.” He said the department’s anniversary theme was called Past, Present and Future.
“John is part of our past, John is part of our present, and John Atkinson will always be part of our future,” he said.
“It’s a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice he made to make sure we all live in a safe city, it’s something we should never, ever forget,” said Betteridge.
Atkinson was 37 and a 14-year veteran when on May 5, 2006, he became the first Windsor police officer to be murdered on the job. An intense manhunt led to the arrest of two 18-year-old men within an hour.
Six days later, about 5,000 lawenforcement officers attended his funeral, one of the biggest in the city’s history. Atkinson left behind his wife and children aged seven and nine.
John is part of our past, John is part of our present, and John Atkinson will always be part of our future.