This Friday will mark 50 years since the last death of a police officer in Salina in the line of duty. On Friday June 13th, 1975, 27-year-old Patrolman Jerry Ivey was shot and killed by a man who had just committed a robbery.

Joe Hay is now a Saline County Commissioner. That day back in 1975 is etched in his memory. Hay, 22-years-old at the time, was working at a service station in the area of Interstate 70 and 81 Highway. He heard sirens, and saw a vehicle pull into the parking lot followed by a police car. Hay tells KSAL News he stepped outside to see what was happening, and a gun battle erupted.

 

The suspect, later identified as Roy Earl Shultz, had robbed the Dillons grocery in Sunset Plaza. He was escaping out of town when Ivey encountered him. Shultz sped off after the shooting, and Hay ran over to help Ivey.

 

Hay knew Ivey well, liked, and respected him.  While on patrol the officer would regularly stop, come inside the service station to make sure everything was okay, and sometimes got something to drink.

Hay became emotional, choking back tears, saying he knew in his heart that Ivey was not going to survive as he tried to help him.

 

Shultz was later caught after a chase and more gunfire. He was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. In July of 1977 he escaped from the state prison in Lansing. Six days later a family of three stopped to give him aid, after a stolen car he was driving broke down in Illinois. At gunpoint he forced the man and his wife to drive him to a hotel. After he bound and gagged the man, Shultz attempted to rape the couples 5-year-old daughter. The woman was able to grab the gun, free her husband, and then they both beat Shultz into submission. He was returned to prison, where he died January 2nd, 1984.

Though he has been gone for a half-century, Jerry Ivey’s memory lives on in multiple ways in Salina.

A park in South Salina bears his name. Jerry Ivey Park is located near Salina South High School. In the park, a bronze plaque tells Ivey’s story. He is also memorialized in the lobby of the Salina Law Enforcement Center, along with other local officers who died in the line of duty.

Retired police officer Jim Norton recently wrote and published a book about Ivey. The book titled “Ivey, Badge 44” is a true crime/biography of the life, career, death and aftermath of the murder of office Ivey.

His memory is also kept alive by his family. Ivey left behind a wife and three small boys, all under the age of 4. One of his sons, Scott, would pass away later that same year. The other two, Tony and Jerry, are alive and well today.

Not only is a park named after Ivey, but so is his youngest son, Jerry Ivey II. He tells KSAL News simply having his father’s name helps his memory live on.

 

Ivey was only 7-months-old when his father was killed, so he really has no memory of him. He does remember, though, the outpouring of support from the community his family received in the years following.

 

Ivey says sharing his father’s name has shaped his life. There’s not a day that goes by that his father’s memory doesn’t come up.

 

This Friday the 13th marks 50 years since that awful day in 1975, which also was a Friday the 13th. Jerry Ivey II is 50-years-old, in this 50th year.

It’s come full circle for Ivey and his family. A granddaughter was born last year, as fate would have it, on June 13th. As the Ivey family gathers to remember him Friday they will do so as they celebrate the first birthday of Officer Jerry Ivey’s great grand daughter.

CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE