In his memory we will not forget

In what may be the ultimate of cruel ironies, Palmer Police Officer James Rowland Jr. died on May 15, 1999 — Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Marked on May 15 each year in the U.S., the day honors federal, state and local officers killed or disabled in the line of duty.

The first and only Palmer police officer to be killed in the line of duty, a new road across the Palmer-Wasilla Highway that connects the old and new Carrs stores has been named in his memory, Rowland Memorial Way.

Before joining the local police department, Rowland also had worked at the Palmer Carrs store.

And it was a detailed report Rowland wrote about a man who stole from the store and threatened the manager that led another Palmer police officer to suggest Rowland consider joining the force.

“One of the officers said to him, ‘boy you write a good report. … You ever think about becoming a cop?’” Officer Rowland’s mother, Wanda, recalled during a recent interview.

He’d been on the force for about three years when he was called to respond to the old Carrs parking lot at about 1:35 a.m. to investigate a report of a man slumped over the steering wheel of a vehicle part on the exit ramp at Pioneer Square.

Rowland was the only officer working during the graveyard shift that night when he pulled his cruiser behind that blue Dodge Ram truck, got out of his patrol car and approached the vehicle.

Shots were fired during an altercation that ensued between Officer Rowland and the driver of the vehicle, Kim Michael Cook, 52. Both men were injured, but Officer Rowland later died from his wounds.

Cook survived the shooting, was charged with first-degree murder and was later sentenced to serve a long prison term.

In addition to his parents James Sr. and Wanda Rowland, the 30-year-old officer left behind his wife, Hallie, and their son, James Arland Rowland III, then 5 years old.

For many Valley residents, this painful day is etched in their memories. We lowered our flags to half-staff. We placed flowers at the roadside memorial and we prayed for the loved ones left behind.

Officer Rowland is one of us. He grew up here. He graduated from Palmer High and after serving in the Navy, he returned to Palmer to raise his family.

Officer Rowland was the 33rd officer in Alaska to die in the line of duty.

To the Rowland family, we can not begin to fathom the depth of your loss, but we join you in remembering, and offer this small token of our appreciation and remembrance.

Officer Rowland is gone, but we will never forget his service and sacrifice.