Mainstreet Radio's Catherine Winter has this remembrance of Terry Wilkey, former Bovey police chief. Wilkey spent more than 30 years on the town's police force and the 800-some residents of Bovey all knew him. But his fame spread much farther; to the Twin Cities, even as far as Texas and North Carolina…because of Terry Wilkey, the writer.
Wilkey contributed a police column called "Streets of Bovey" to Bovey's weekly newspaper. It became an underground hit. People clipped and mailed "Streets of Bovey" to distant relatives; it was posted on law enforcement billboards; and eventually became a humorous series on Minnesota Public Radio.
A memorial service was held in the little Iron Range town for Wilkey on February 2nd, 1998.
Transcripts
text | pdf |
CATHERINE WINTER: When Terry Wilkey retired from the Bovey Police Department about two years ago, he took me for a drive around town. He was so tall and wide, it seemed he had to fold himself behind the wheel of his car. And it was a big car.
With quiet nostalgia, he pointed out where things used to be-- the house where he'd seen his first murder victim, the spot where the old police shack once stood. Wilkey became a police officer here when he was 23 with no formal training. He simply asked for the job and the city council said, OK.
TERRY WILKEY: When I got hired, they said, we're hiring you, too. And here's the keys for the police shack, the guns on the wall, and the old squad cars by the police shack. And if you can get it started, fine. Otherwise, you'll have to use your own car or walk for a while.
CATHERINE WINTER: Wilkey spent the next 30 years solving crimes, opening doors for people who locked their keys in the car, scolding rambunctious kids, and taking guff from what he called know-it-alls.
TERRY WILKEY: People say, those guys don't do anything but sit up in the office or drive around in that car and smoke cigarettes. After many years of listening to that, I thought, well, I'm going to start writing this column to let them know what we did and what was going on.
CATHERINE WINTER: Every week or so, Wilkey would write a list of what he'd been up to. Items like, found an unlocked door at a business. We locked it. Sometimes Wilkey talked tough. In one column, he suggested a few nights in the crowbar motel might straighten out a wrongdoer.
Sometimes details about Wilkey's life would appear. He wrote about the difficulty he had renting a tux for his daughter's wedding because he was such a big man. He complained about what he paid for the wedding, listing the prices of flowers, food, and photographs.
Each column began with a suggestion that know-it-alls should not read his words because they might overtax their minds. Each column ended with the advice, lock that door and get that license number.
TERRY WILKEY: I enjoyed my job. And I always give the city 100%. I always had a good rapport with teenagers and young people. I always concerned about our senior citizens. I guess I figured it was my job, and this was my town. And I was going to take care of it to the best of my ability.
CATHERINE WINTER: Wilkey had hoped that someday he would write a book about being police chief in Bovey, but he never got to finish it. He died of cancer Saturday at the age of 55. When he retired two years ago, Wilkey said he had gotten tired of always seeing people at the worst moments in their lives, always seeing sorrow. But he found humor in the absurd and mundane moments a small town cop encounters.
Wilkey clearly had fun writing the newspaper column. He was delighted when MPR created a short series of radio programs based on his reports. His sense of humor extended even to himself. I'm Catherine Winter, Mainstreet Radio, Grand Rapids.