Cannon Beach gazette., February 26, 2016, Page 3A, Image 3

February 26, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Community grieves for Seaside’s Sgt. Goodding
EO Media Group
SEASIDE — Thousands
gathered Friday, Feb. 12, to
remember Seaside Police Sgt.
Jason Goodding as a father,
husband, friend and comrade
who gave his life protecting
the community he loved.
A procession guided Good-
ding’s casket from Camp Rilea
Armed Forces Training Center
in Warrenton to a memorial at
the Seaside Civic and Conven-
tion Center, passing through
downtown, where hundreds
of law enforcement of¿cers
and residents turned out to pay
their respects.
Goodding, 39, was shot
and killed Feb. 5 while trying
to arrest a suspect on a felony
assault warrant.
Gov. Kate Brown present-
ed Goodding’s widow, Amy,
with the Medal of Ultimate
Sacri¿ce, and the well-liked
of¿cer was remembered with
love, humor and affection in
remarks by Clatsop County
Sheriff Tom Bergin, Seaside
Police Chief Dave Ham and
state Sen. Betsy Johnson.
“He always made every
single person he talked to feel
like you were his best friend,”
Bergin said fondly at the me-
morial. “And there’s 1,600
heads in this place right now,
and I can see about 1,100,
1,200 of them shaking their
heads going, ‘Yeah, that’s just
so true.
“So true.’”
Ham, who was close
friends with Goodding as well
as his chief, described the fatal
shooting as “our worst night-
mare.”
“Jason brought out the best
of others,” he said, “whether it
is personally or professionally,
whoever he was working with,
whether he is supervising or
mentoring.”
Ham said Goodding “did
his job respectfully. He was
fair. He was kind. He carried
out his duties in the most pro-
fessional manner and repre-
sented the Seaside Police De-
partment in the best possible
way.”
JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP
Police officers salute as Sgt. Jason Goodding’s hearse passes during a procession involving hundreds of police vehicles.
Inside the convention cen-
ter hall, the sheer magnitude
of men and women in uniform,
the regimental precision and
the profound respect resonat-
ed.
Claudio Diaz of Brook-
lyn, New York, is a member
of Brotherhood of the Fallen.
They turn out when an of¿cer
is killed in the line of duty. “We
come out, we also have multi-
ple chapters, we have a Chi-
cago chapter and an Aurora,
Colorado, chapter,” Diaz said.
“We come and we share sup-
port for people around the na-
tion. 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 ee-
rie 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.
JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP
Capt. Gordon Houston of Seaside Fire and Rescue helps
position a flag over Broadway.
The city came to a standstill
and people hugged one another
and cried in the streets. Amer-
ican Àags Àew everywhere,
trailing the ¿retrucks that came
from throughout the state,
proudly poised to share the
memory of an ultimate hero,
sacri¿ced in the line of duty.
Baker County, Marion County,
Douglas County, Clark Coun-
ty, Oregon State Police, City of
Sweet Home, La Grande and
Union County. On they came.
“With our small communi-
ty, 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 mo-
ment.
The president of Seaside
Rotary, Leahy and others
shared memories of Goodding
at the group’s Thursday lun-
cheon. “There were words and
memories about Sgt. Good-
ding, so many memories of
the community 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 reinforce what
a special community we had.”
The memorial was not con-
¿ned to a single location —
there were too many friends,
family members, community
members, of¿cials, law en-
forcement of¿cers and emer-
gency 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 different people in a lot
of different 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 re-
minder 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 support for him,” La-
Coste said.
North Coast Family Fel-
lowship and other venues in
Astoria, Gearhart, Seaside and
Cannon Beach were hosting
groups to watch the service.
Of¿cer Randy Huserik,
with the Seattle Police Depart-
ment, vacations in Seaside with
his family, so he feels a per-
sonal connection to the loss of
Goodding 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 enforce-
ment 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 Katherine La-
caze contributed to this report.