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| Friends, officers pay tribute to 'really good guy' |
| 2006-05-22 |
| Former policeman with area ties died in Afghan attack BROOKVILLE, Ind. -- Before the body of former town Police Sgt. Ron Zimmerman returns to his hometown of Connersville this week, it will pass through Brookville, where he served for six years. Zimmerman, 37, of Glenwood, was killed Wednesday in Afghanistan by a suicide car bomber while traveling in a convoy on his way to train Afghan police officers. The Connersville High School graduate was employed by a private contractor, DynCorp International of Irving, Texas. Officer Terry Mitchum, Zimmerman's former partner on the Brookville force, said the body of his best friend will arrive by Wednesday at Greater Cincinnati Airport. When it does, Mitchum will be there. "I'm planning on escorting him back through Brookville so the people here can come out and then on to Connersville, where a big ceremony is being planned with an honor guard," Mitchum said. Zimmerman left the Brookville force in late 2004 and his abilities as a police officer took him around the world, first to Kosovo and then Afghanistan. He loved to show people the small Indiana community where he last served, friend Kathy Baudendistel said. Zimmerman would pull up Baudendistel's Web site, Wolf Creek Habitat and Rescue, so his new friends could see the green hills and wolf pups he loved, Baudendistel said. Baudendistel's voice cracked with grief Friday as she talked about Zimmerman from her workplace, George's Video in Brookville. The video store and pharmacy are next door to the Brookville Police Station, so Baudendistel saw Zimmerman often. "It's real hard. He was a wonderful guy and I've had a hard time believing he's gone. He was doing what he loved," Baudendistel said. Sometimes Baudendistel brought baby wolves to work so Zimmerman could see and pet them. "That's one of my last memories of him, petting those babies. He loved animals. When he came home, he'd always give me a hug. It hurts when you see on TV what happened to him," Baudendistel said. After spending a year in Kosovo, Zimmerman went to work for DynCorp in March and had been in Afghanistan little more than a month, company spokesman Greg Lagana said. Last July, Zimmerman came home from Kosovo for Mitchum's wedding, to be his best man. "I wasn't going to get married until he came back," Mitchum said. "I told him we'd get married when he could get here, but he arranged it." Zimmerman became a law enforcement officer for the right reason -- to help people, Mitchum said. "He always put others' feelings first. When things got heated, he'd never back away. He was the first one through the door. He wouldn't let another officer get in danger," Mitchum said. As a policeman, Zimmerman often phoned in meal orders to the Pioneer Restaurant and Lounge, just across the parking lot from the Franklin County Courthouse. Sharon Byrley, a Pioneer waitress for 10 years, remembers Zimmerman as a good customer and pleasant person. And when the man with the "million dollar grin" couldn't find a restaurant open on third shift in this small town, he often ate at Officer Tim Wilkerson's house. "Ron and I were shift partners for about a year before he left," Wilkerson said. "Zimmerman had a metabolism that could burn up food and he was always hungry. He'd say, 'Do you think Kathy's (Wilkerson's wife) still up? Will she make us something to eat?' He'd eat anything. You'd think he was eating for a couple of people." Police Officer Brian Bischoff was on duty early Thursday morning when he got the call from a regional commander in Afghanistan that Zimmerman was dead. The commander wanted someone from his old police force to break the news to Zimmerman's widow, Marla. "I called Terry (Mitchum) because I knew they were good friends and he went. It was a shock," Bischoff said. "Ron always had a smile on his face and was ready to work. He was go, go, go. He couldn't sit still." His energy was part of his decision to move on to private contractor work, Bischoff said. "(Ron) said it was something he had to do. There wasn't much more he could do in Brookville. He was ready to do something else and the money was a lot better too," Bischoff said. Karen Short of Brookville remembers Zimmerman as the officer who could have given her a ticket, but didn't. "Some cops are jerks and then there was Ron," Short said. "He had a better way of dealing with people. He was a really good guy." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 God bless him, his family and friends. His sacrifice did not go without notice. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-05-22 16:04 |