Memorial remembers Marysville father, Seattle officer as compassionate, brave

Published 9:41 pm Thursday, October 28, 2010

Father, husband, friend. Loving, compassionate, brave.

Each of those words describes Timothy Brenton, the Seattle police officer shot to death a year ago on Halloween night.

Those words are now engraved in polished black granite. They were chosen by Brenton’s widow Lisa and other family members. They are part of a memorial to the fallen officer that will be dedicated Sunday afternoon at E. Yesler Way and 29th Avenue S., a Seattle intersection near where Brenton was killed.

Lisa Brenton, who lives in Marysville, will be there when the memorial is unveiled with her daughter Kayleigh, 12, and 9-year-old son Quinn.

Facing the one-year anniversary of their Halloween nightmare is difficult beyond words. Still, she is heartened by the Leschi neighborhood’s grass-roots effort to make the curbside memorial a reality.

“It was actually the neighbors themselves, they wanted to do it on their own,” she said Thursday. “They did approach me once the design was in place to make sure the family approved.”

Her 39-year-old husband was on duty the night of Oct. 31, 2009, when he and his partner were ambushed by a gunman as they sat in a patrol car. Christopher Monfort is charged with aggravated murder in the shooting.

Despite the perils inherent in law enforcement, Brenton said she made a point of not dwelling on danger each time her husband left for work. “I mean honestly, I didn’t worry. If you worry every day, you’re going to go crazy,” she said.

Judy Blanco, who designed the memorial, lives close to where Brenton was killed and his partner, Britt Sweeney, was wounded.

“I was returning home right after it happened, about 15 minutes after. I couldn’t tell what was going on, but I knew it was something really terrible. We were all very shaken by it,” Blanco said.

Within a week of the tragedy, she said, neighbors held a meeting at the Seattle home of Robert Cipollone, who spearheaded the memorial effort. Officer Brenton’s name was familiar in the close-knit neighborhood through e-mail about area issues, including crime.

Blanco was chosen to design the memorial because she has a degree in landscape architecture and an art background.

Quiring Monuments, a Seattle company, donated materials and built sculptural elements for the memorial, which is worth about $8,000, said Jon Reece, the firm’s general manager. The centerpiece is an image of Brenton’s badge made of blue pearl granite. Black granite on each side is engraved with the officer’s name and those special words.

Members of the Leschi Community Council and other neighbors gathered at weekend work parties to complete the project.

Blanco said the group got approval from Seattle’s transportation department to build the parking-strip memorial. It’s a 32-foot-long rectangle, 6 inches from the ground, that features the badge, a tree that will blossom in springtime, and evergreen perennials. New paving bricks surround it.

“We covered it with plywood to keep it under wraps until the unveiling. I hope it can be something that brings the community together,” Reece said.

Detective Mark Jamieson, a Seattle Police Department spokesman, said that while officers contributed time and made donations, the memorial was “very much a grass-roots community effort.”

“We just want to thank the community for wanting to honor Tim like they have,” said Jamieson, who expects a huge police turnout at Sunday’s event.

Lisa Brenton said the police community has been very supportive as she struggles through grief and learning to be a single parent. She works part-time as a trauma nurse, at Arlington’s Cascade Valley Hospital and at Northwest Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle.

Kayleigh Brenton attends Tenth Street School in Marysville. Her brother goes to Grove Elementary. Their mom is busy with her son’s soccer games and her daughter’s horseback riding. A female friend has moved into their home to help out.

Not a day goes by without the family sharing memories of Tim Brenton.

“We talk about him all the time,” said Lisa Brenton, who met her future husband while she was at Washington State University in Pullman and he attended a nearby community college.

She remembers good times, including a family trip to Vancouver Island shortly before he died. “Most of the time we just hung out — had dinner, watched TV, normal stuff,” she said.

Milestones are particularly hard, birthdays, holidays, and of course this Halloween.

Blanco said it was important to complete the project within a year to help the Brenton family.

“At least we could offer that to them, a place to come and remember him,” she said.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Memorial dedication

A memorial to honor Timothy Brenton, the Seattle police officer shot to death Oct. 31, 2009, will be dedicated at 3 p.m. Sunday on the northwest corner of E.t Yesler Way and 29th Avenue S. in Seattle. The event is open to the public.

Donations to help maintain the memorial may be sent to the Leschi Community Council, Officer Brenton Memorial, P.O. Box 22391, Seattle, WA 98122-0391.