BRIDGEWATER — Thirty years after he was gunned down outside his Broad Street home, the town will honor Bridgewater police officer Wayne Stoutamyer with a memorial garden at Oakdale Park. The town will dedicate the garden with a ceremony today at 11 a.m.
"We all want to do something," Mayor Hallie Dinkel said. "The council felt this was the best way to go about it."
According to Town Superintendent Bob Holton, Stoutamyer was shot and killed by Roy Pope Jr. on May 25, 1976, after had arrested Pope for drunk driving weeks before.
Holton said the memorial garden will include plaques of other police officers and firefighters who have lost their lives giving back to the community.
Stoutamyer’s plaque will be joined by Eddie Caracofe, a member of the Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Company who lost his life while fighting a fire at Jess’ Restaurant in Harrisonburg in 1979, according to Holton.
Todd Glendye, chief of the Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department, remembers Stoutamyer and Caracofe fondly.
"We lost two good people to senseless acts in a very short period of time," he said. "These two men are very deserving of memorials and I am very pleased to see this happen."
Saturday’s dedication is open to the public, according to Bridgewater police officer J.M. Simmons.
Bill Kyger, Rockingham County Supervisor and Bridgewater resident, is expected to speak at the dedication.
Kyger, Simmons says, was a volunteer rescue worker in 1976 who also responded to the fire at Jess’.
Simmons said that members of Stoutamyer’s family are also expected to attend.
"We hope that a good number of people will show up," Simmons said. "We don’t know how many will come, but I think it’s going to be a nice service."
A separate ceremony for Caracofe is expected in late October, Simmons said.
The ceremony will take place at the entrance to Oakdale Park in Bridgewater on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Contact Dan Kipperman at 574-6274 or dkipp@dnronline.com
Dan Kipperman. "Bridgewater Memorial Garden Dedicated Today" Daily News-Record. September 16, 2006: C1.
