EDMONDS – When he was a boy, David Stern said he wanted to grow up to be a police chief.
His dream came true in 2001, and he recently told his brother, Don, he had no plans to retire.
“He wanted to serve the police department and the people of Edmonds he’d grown to love,” Don Stern said.
Edmonds Police Chief David Stern died early April 25 just hours after suffering from a brain aneurysm while on duty. He was 61.
On Tuesday, roughly 1,200 people honored Stern at a memorial service held at Westgate Chapel in Edmonds.
Family, friends and colleagues told stories about the man who liked to be called “Dave.”
His daughter, Dawn Eldridge, recalled how Stern once sold his beloved gun collection so he could afford Christmas gifts for his children. Mountlake Terrace Police Chief Scott Smith recalled sitting in Stern’s office, chatting with the Edmonds chief while listening to classical music.
“I see him in my mind, I see him in my heart, and I see him in my memories,” Smith said as he held back tears. “That cannot be taken away from us.”
Promptly at 10:30 a.m., a memorial procession arrived at the chapel on Edmonds Way. The procession was led by bagpipers and a mounted patrol, including a horse without a rider, with boots placed backwards in the stirrups.
The procession passed below a giant American flag hung from crossed fire ladders. The procession was greeted by a honor guard, white gloves saluting the chief.
Inside, through the quiet, came the call of a bugle, the slow tap, tap, tap of a snare drum and the sound of bagpipes. Officers stood and saluted as Stern’s family was seated.
At the end of the service, an American flag was presented to Stern’s wife, Darlene. The couple met on a blind date when Stern was 16 years old.
After high school – when Stern moved from Chicago to California to start his career in law enforcement – he wrote letters to her every day for two years until she moved out west and married him.
“Their love after 33 years was literally unbreakable,” said Darrin Stern, David Stern’s son, who is also a police officer.
When Stern started in Edmonds, his colleagues wondered if the bald, fit man had much of a sense of humor. Once his coworkers got to know him, they playfully needled him about his after-hours chamber of commerce meetings or the black socks he wore while jogging, Acting Edmonds Police Chief Al Compaan said.
“His passing still seems like a bad dream,” Compaan said.
Stern attended almost every city council meeting as well as city staff meetings. He had a favorite chair that nobody else dared to sit in it, Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson said.
“Sometimes, he would be so tired that I would send him a text message to go home. He would quietly nod and leave the room,” Haakenson said. “I’ll always be looking for him in the back of the room, but I know all I’ll ever see is that empty chair.”
Several people mentioned Stern’s passion for golf. He was no Arnold Palmer, but he could hold his own, they said.
Smith, of Mountlake Terrace, recalled a day on the green when Stern drove his ball more than 250 yards off the tee – right after Smith flubbed his shot, knocking his ball a paltry 10 yards.
“It was beautiful; I hated him right at that moment,” Smith said, drawing laughter from the audience.
At home, Stern had the same high expectations for his children that he had for his coworkers.
However, Stern’s family saw plenty of his soft side. He took the family on road trips, and he and his wife made a game of hiding unmatched socks in each other’s belongings. At the dinner table, he invented the “burpter scale,” Eldridge said – a system for ranking burps on a scale of 1 to 10.
“Although we gave it a valiant effort, neither my brother nor I were able to score higher than he did,” Eldridge said.
Photos and a sketched portrait of Stern adorned a table at Tuesday’s memorial. One of the pictures was of Stern and his son, Darrin Stern, at Darrin’s graduation from the police academy.
Stern surprised his son by buying a brand new Class A uniform to wear to the ceremony.
“It’s been almost 17 years, and that picture is still in my house, in the forefront,” Darrin Stern said.
People shouldn’t fear talking about the fallen chief, especially to those who loved him, family members said.
“My dad is my hero, and I will never forget him,” Eldridge said. “I hope none of you will, either.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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