This is a letter that was written by Joel's niece, Sarah Hansen. She wrote this letter for one of her classes in elementary school.
Joel Conklin was a police officer. He helped a lot of
people in his life. He was not just a police officer. He was a funny guy to be
around with, too. My sister and I went camping with him, his wife, and his
daughter. We cooked s'mores over a campfire and sang songs together at Mahoney State Park. I would
never see him when I was at his house in Hastings, NE. He was always at work.
He would always pull my pigtails and say, "Gitty up horsey, Gitty up."
He was
trying to save 7 people from getting killed. The person he was trying to save
them from, shot him, and he died. There were over 10,000 police officers from
all over the country that came to his funeral. A lot of the family came, too.
When we were going to the graveyard people were saluting us on the sidewalks
and roads everywhere. This guy I'm telling you about in this story is no ordinary
person. He was a very special uncle. Well, if you're asking in your head, "Why did
she write this story?" Why I wrote this is because my uncle always wanted to be a
police officer, but he never was one until he was thirty-four. What I learned from
him was that you may not get your wish in a day, a month, or a year. Someday you
will get what you wish for.
-by Sarah Hansen
Age 9 in
1995
Day #13,681 of Joel's Life
•
Joel's Obituary
• Pictures from Washington, DC
•
My Letter
•
Pictures of Joel
Poems, Emails, and Graphics
• Links and Other Memorial Sites
• Article from 10th Anniversary of Joel's Death