Painter dedicates mural series to the fallen deputies of Orange
Sweat dripped from Jeff Sonksen’s arm as he steadied a drill against a piece of wood. He worked quickly to finish assembling the frame before the families of Orange County deputies killed in the line of duty arrived for a dedication in downtown Sanford.
Behind him were the faces of 20 slain deputies painted in blue on fence slats.
Sonksen bent down to reach for a nail from his tool kit. When he snapped back up, LaShaun Braddock-Pullin was there. She’d been standing nearby, admiring the portrait of her husband, Grady Terrill Braddock. She wanted to thank Sonksen.
He stopped the work he was doing to listen to the widow. Braddock was killed 19 years ago after a man driving a stolen car at 90 miles per hour slammed into the deputy’s patrol cruiser. His wife thought with time, people would forget him, she told Sonksen.
“It’s always a wonderful thing to know that somebody is still remembering and not forgetting,” Braddock-Pullin said.
Families of fallen officers share a fear that their loved ones will be forgotten, said Nadine Erickson, a civilian employee in the sheriff’s office. Her own husband, homicide investigator Michael Erickson, died of a heart attack. Deputies and families band together to remember them, she said, but it is especially touching when an outsider does something in remembrance.
“When you have somebody like (Sonksen), through the goodness of his heart and soul, that wants to say ‘thank you for this job that you do’ it creates this — you can’t say thank you enough,” Erickson said.
But Sonksen wanted to turn the gratitude back to the deputies and families. He’s known for his “Paint the Trail” mural project that stretches along the Seminole Wekiva Trail. Earlier this year, he painted a tribute to Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputies. After he unveiled those portraits, Orange County deputies and family members reached out to Sonksen and he decided to do the same for their fallen deputies dating back to 1870.
“I just want you all to know that this is my ‘thank you’ to these men and to all their family members. That’s what all this is and a reminder when people see the artwork the risk that police officers take,” Sonksen said to the families.
The mural will stand in downtown Sanford for two months before it is moved to a post at the intersection of Ronald Reagan Boulevard and Longwood Hills Road, a heavy traffic area.
“Eventually, everybody will have their faces memorized and hopefully their names,” Sonksen said.