10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016
Memorial: Goodding’s friends, family celebrate his life
Continued from Page 1A
At the start of his tribute,
Clatsop County Sheriff Tom
Bergin slapped a sticker in the
shape of a smile on the podium.
He said the ¿rst thing everyone
always noticed about Goodding
was his smile.
“He always made every sin-
gle person he talked to feel like
you were his best friend,” Ber-
gin said.
Bergin, who was Goodding’s
next-door neighbor, shared sto-
ries about them four-wheeling
together and sharing beers on
his front porch.
“I am so proud to have
known Jason,” Bergin said. “He
is just an incredible man.”
Seaside Police Chief Dave
Ham considered Goodding a
close friend. “Our hearts are
heavy. We are grieving the loss
of our department leader, team
member and friend,” Ham said.
“As we celebrate Jason’s life
today, our tears of sadness are
going to turn to joy soon.”
Ham spoke about fun mem-
ories boating, ¿shing and hiking
together. Ham enjoyed visiting
Goodding and getting to know
his wife, Amy, and two daugh-
ters, Joslyn, 13, and Jayden, 10.
When he came over to visit,
Ham joked, the girls would
always mispronounce his name
Member of the ceremonial honor guard kneel in front of
Sgt. Jason Goodding’s casket during the presentation of
the flag at the memorial service.
Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin attaches a sticker reminding him of Jason Goodding’s
smile as he speaks at the memorial. View more photos online at www.dailyastorian.com
and say, “Damn Ham is here.”
Ben Ward, a childhood
friend of Goodding’s, and Roger
Schenk, Goodding’s high school
coach, each spoke about Good-
ding’s upbringing in Sherwood.
Goodding was a star athlete who
grew up rooting for the Univer-
sity of Oregon Ducks athletics
and Los Angeles Lakers.
Schenk remembers Good-
ding’s charisma and leadership.
He had a knack for making peo-
ple feel special, Schenk said.
“I wanted him to be a teacher
or a coach, and he did a little bit
of that,” Schenk said. “He found
his calling and passion was law
enforcement, and he made the
right choice.”
The memorial was mostly a
moment for Goodding’s friends
and family to celebrate his life.
While the tone was often
casual and humorous, the grief
over Goodding’s death in the
line of duty was never far from
the surface.
Gov. Kate Brown recog-
nized Goodding’s commitment
with the Medal of Ultimate Sac-
ri¿ce, which she presented to
Goodding’s wife.
State Sen. Betsy John-
son, D-Scappoose, passion-
ately spoke out against those
who criticize law enforcement
of¿cers.
The state senator speci¿-
cally called out fellow lawmak-
ers in the state Legislature who
have been experimenting with
justice reinvestment programs
that keep some criminals out of
prison.
Phillip Max Ferry, the man
who allegedly killed Goodding
and was shot dead by police,
was a habitual criminal who
spent no more than ¿ve years in
prison.
“The very of¿cers expected
to be on the front lines so the
rest of us can stay safe have
been relegated to minor players
in a political experiment called
justice reinvestment,” Johnson
said.
Goodding’s memory should
be honored by acknowledg-
ing what is asked of the police,
Johnson said, and not by criti-
cizing them when they do their
jobs.
“How tragic so many will
mourn Sgt. Goodding’s death
today, and in the days to come
will disrespect public safety pro-
fessionals by making their jobs
more dif¿cult through ill-con-
ceived policies ripe with unin-
tended consequences,” Johnson
said.
Seaside: ‘I think Jason would have loved to see this show of love and support’
Continued from Page 1A
Inside the convention center
hall, the sheer magnitude of men
and women in uniform, the reg-
imental precision and the pro-
found respect resonated.
Claudio Diaz of Brooklyn,
New York, is a member of Broth-
erhood of the Fallen. They turn
out when an of¿cer is killed in
the line of duty. “We come out,
we also have multiple chapters,
we have a Chicago chapter and
an Aurora, Colorado, chapter,”
Diaz said. “We come and we
share support for people around
the nation. We all wear uniforms,
we all do the same job, and we’re
all one big family. Six people,
two for the honor guard and four
from the brotherhood.”
Earlier Friday, the most eerie
thing was the quiet.
U.S. Highway 101, as if in
mourning itself, joined in the
moment of silence. The road was
cleared in Goodding’s memory.
The city came to a standstill
and people hugged one another
and cried in the streets. Ameri-
can Àags Àew everywhere, trail-
ing the ¿retrucks that came from
throughout the state, proudly
poised to share the mem-
ory of an ultimate hero, sacri-
¿ced in the line of duty. Baker
County, Marion County, Doug-
las County, Clark County, Ore-
gon State Police, City of Sweet
Home, La Grande and Union
County. On they came.
“With our small commu-
nity, and you think of the larger
picture of law enforcement that
protects us,” Seaside’s Kevin
Leahy said. “I’m very good
friends with Astoria Police
Chief Brad Johnston and Can-
non Beach Chief Jason Scher-
merhorn. They’re family guys,
just thinking about that part ...”
His voice drifted for a
moment.
The president of Seaside
Rotary, Leahy and others shared
memories of Goodding at the
group’s Thursday luncheon.
“There were words and mem-
ories about Sgt. Goodding, so
many memories of the commu-
nity members. He coached their
daughter’s team, or they knew
him through his other volunteer
work. He was always there from
beginning to end, just to rein-
force what a special community
we had.”
The memorial was not con-
¿ned to a single location ²
there were too many friends,
family members, community
members, of¿cials, law enforce-
ment of¿cers and emergency
service personnel who wished
to say “goodbye.”
To accommodate the throng
of locals and out-of-towners,
venues throughout the North
Coast simulcast the memorial
service.
The Seaside High School
gymnasium, one of the satel-
lite locations live streaming the
ceremony, started ¿lling up just
after noon. For some people,
putting their grief into words
was too hard. “The thing about
Jason is he touched a lot of dif-
ferent people in a lot of differ-
ent ways,” said Kevin LaCoste,
of Gearhart. “He was well-liked
wherever he went.”
He was one of Goodding’s
“poker buddies,” and the of¿-
cer also coached LaCoste’s son
in football. Goodding “died way
too young,” LaCoste said, and
the incident serves as a reminder
to appreciate the ones you love,
as Goodding did.
LaCoste said “there is no
doubt” Goodding would have
been at the memorial if it was
one of his colleagues who had
fallen. The turnout in honor of
Goodding is “amazing,” he said.
“I think Jason would have loved
to see this show of love and sup-
port for him,” LaCoste said.
North Coast Family Fellow-
ship and other venues in Asto-
ria, Gearhart, Seaside and Can-
non Beach were hosting groups
to watch the service.
Of¿cer Randy Huserik, with
the Seattle Police Department,
vacations in Seaside with his
family, so he feels a personal
connection to the loss of Good-
ding and how it impacts a small
agency like the Seaside Police
Department.
“I felt compelled to be here
for the Goodding family, as well
as the Seaside department,” he
said. “For them, something like
this is devastating.”
However, this sort of inci-
dent affects the law enforcement
community as a whole, as well.
All across the country, men and
women face risks while on their
jobs serving their communities.
For all of them, Huserik said,
“the goal at the start of the shift
is to go home at the end of the
shift.”
“You never know when it’s
going to go bad, when some-
thing will go wrong,” he said.
R.J. Marx and Kather-
ine Lacaze contributed to this
report.
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