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Oldest living retired Waco police officer visits Waco

Posted at 5:45 PM, Jul 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-01 23:47:31-04

The oldest living retired Waco police officer visited Waco Saturday morning.

Sgt. James Howard worked for the Waco Police Department from 1941 to 1961. Howard is 100 years old.

On Saturday, Howard toured the Waco Police Department Museum, looking at objects and donated historical items from before, during and after the time he was a police officer.

"They've been wanting me to come down and look at all of this. I'm glad to get to see it today. It's a lot of swell things down here that I didn't have," Howard said.

It was his first time touring the museum.

Curator of the Museum Randy Lanier started the museum a few years ago after finding a roll call log on to of a break room refrigerator. That discovery turned into finding and collecting hundreds of other artifacts for the museum.

"[Howard] was one of the first officers I contacted after I started collecting some information," Lanier said.

Lanier has met Howard a few times before his visit to Waco on Saturday. He said he enjoys listening to Howard's stories.

"I like to show him old photos to see if he recognizes anybody because he was around back in the 40s and 50s and the only one survivor that we have now that was alive back then," Lanier said. "So he's been a big help in that."

Howard said he recognized some of the people in the photos in the museum.

Howard and his family also joined hundreds of former and current peace officers for the first Brothers and Sisters In Law event at the Bellmead Community Center. Brothers and Sisters In Law is a group of peace officers from across the state who meet every few months. 

The organizer of the group, Wilburn Willis, was a police officer for Waco in the 1960s. He said there were about 170 people at the event.

"It brings back memories.We went through so many different things," Willis said. 

He said it's a time for the officers and their families to share stories.

"It's so good, y'all see them now. They're seeing people they haven't seen in a while," Willis said.

Those in attendance also made sure to stop by Sgt. Howard's table to say hello.

Howard will turn 101 years old in September.

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